| |
[4 January 2008|08:42 pm] |
You know what I hate? Drama. Stupid, petty, pointless drama. I have an extremely low tolerance for bullshit. I am extremely frustrated by the complete bollocks that sometimes intrudes on my life. Some people may thrive on being irrational and difficult and take pleasure from the ensuing nonsense, but that's their failing, not mine.
Speaking of people having bullshit thrust upon them, I feel rather sorry for David Hicks. He gets out of Guantanamo Bay, he gets released from Australian detention, and he walks into the invisible cage erected by the media. Now, I'm not willing to take sides on Hicks's guilt - the man was held in the most reprehensible conditions and I think it is more than reasonable to suggest he pled guilty to materially supporting terrorism simply to get out. Certainly without a fair and open trial before a jury of his peers, I am not going to accept Hicks's guilt or presume that he was simply a naive innocent in the wrong place at the wrong time.
However, I am more than willing to take a side on the post-release media circus. The media are acting like a pack of ravenous dogs with no respect for anyone else. This article in The Age struck me as very disappointing. The guy must be extremely psychologically damaged by his time in Guantanamo; no wonder he won't take questions and is apprehensive about being seen in public! The man's gone through a very traumatic experience and the process of re-adjustment to normal life will hardly be a picnic for him either, and the media vultures surely are not helping that at all. It seems like even the most respectable media outlets have questionable moral scruples. There isn't even really a story here! Hicks is free and trying to return to normality, and in no condition to answer any questions; go chase some worthwhile news that matters.
Bah, people. And some folk wonder why I like to say "the biggest problem with humanity is people"? |
|
|
| A second brief letter to an incompetent excuse for a Prime Minister |
[4 February 2007|11:23 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | afghanistan, australia, australian politics, david hicks, guantanamo, human rights, incompetence, injustice, john howard, politicians i abhor, united states, war on terror | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  infuriated | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | 'Epidemic' by Blackfield | ] |
John Howard,
Imagine the following scenario. An Australian serving in Afghanistan to aid the Global Spread Of DemocracyTM is captured by the Taliban. They believe he is a threat to their existence and throw him in jail, pending a trial to determine whether he is guilty of criminal conduct. They then hold him in miserable conditions without trial for five whole years, and without charge for the majority of this time. He is treated appallingly during his imprisonment and denied basic legal and human rights, though the Taliban claim otherwise. What do you do, Mr Howard? What do you do? Do you just take the Taliban's word that they're treating him OK and that everything is proceeding as swiftly as possible and he will receive a fair trial? Or do you call bullshit and do everything within your power to secure fair treatment and trial?
Yeah, that's pretty much the David Hicks example flipped. I'm using it to make a point. I'm calling you out on being a complete hypocrite, you disgusting little man. You want to know something funny about human rights? The point is that they apply to everyone, including the people you don't like. The point is that you don't allow Australian citizens to be thrown in a miserable jail for five years without trial, even if the jailor is supposedly our ally. The point is that it's fucking inhumane to lock someone up for five years with the barest of contact with the outside world when they haven't even been put on trial, let alone found guilty of anything! The point is that you don't fucking do that, you don't! Especially not when this US government has been proven time and time again to be completely incompetent, completely full of shit, completely untrustworthy, and completely unconcerned with upholding international law or the Geneva Conventions or basic human rights when it isn't convenient for them to do so!
David Hicks is a citizen of the country you were elected to lead, Mr Howard. He has been mistreated and denied basic human rights by a country deemed to be our ally. What are you going to do about it, huh? Stop sitting on your hands and stop responding with meaningless blather. If you don't get off your hands, just fucking resign and let someone with a sense of compassion and a modicum of intelligence do the job.
Fuck you.
Sincerely,
Intelligent People of Australia
PS If anyone thinks my profanity in this entry is excessive, just imagine if your father was held in miserable conditions without trial by a foreign country for over five years. Bloody hell, the David Hicks issue makes me angry and I think I've remained remarkably composed in this entry. |
|
|
discontent