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Axver

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[3 January 2007|09:08 pm]
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[Current Music |'Liar On The Mount' by Wolverine]

( Some observations on the media. )

Also, if you have seen the mobile phone camera footage of Saddam Hussein's execution, pay close attention and note the chant: "Muqtada, Muqtada, Muqtada". What? Just remember this name: Muqtada al-Sadr. Now, I'm not going to go as far as some I've heard and already jump to the conclusion of "from one dictator to another", but Muqtada al-Sadr has strong influence over a growing portion of the Iraqi Shi'ite populace and I can't say I feel at ease.
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Twisting religion to justify hate. [31 December 2006|10:48 pm]
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[Current Mood | tired]
[Current Music |'Bridge Across Forever' by Transatlantic]

I would like to continue on from yesterday's post about the execution of Saddam Hussein by addressing a topic that hits particularly close to home for me. I have been absolutely flabbergasted by some of the hate-filled bile that has come from the mouths and fingers of right wing Christians.

( This entry is targeted directly at those who think Christianity allows them to be completely tasteless pricks. )

And with that written, I shall depart for bed and ignore midnight. Stuff New Year's Eve. I just want it to be 2007 already.
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On so-called "justice". [30 December 2006|08:12 pm]
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[Current Music |'Seasons Unite' by Orphaned Land]

I am sure most of you by now are aware that Saddam Hussein was executed by hanging earlier today. I'd like to express my thoughts on the matter, especially as I am a vehement opponent of the death penalty.

My opposition to the death penalty absolutely stands and I am disgusted with this complete miscarriage of justice. I have such an array of arguments that it is hard to know where to begin. Ultimately, the entire legal system that has carried Saddam to his death has lowered itself to his level, that of irrational and bloodthirsty barbarians who stoop to killing others. Many may say that now a monster and a tyrant has been removed from the planet, but the fact stands that he has been an impotent windbag since his capture in 2003. That was when his powers of tyranny were stripped from him, and ever since then, he has been locked in a jail cell without the ability to cause further death and destruction. This execution achieves nothing. It does not rid the world of a tyrant, as that had effectively already been achieved, and it does not bring back the victims of his tyranny or solve any other problems related to the man. It does not carry out justice, as the point of justice is to rehabilitate individuals into functioning members of society, or if this cannot be achieved, to keep them where they may cause no harm to either themselves or others while getting the treatment they so clearly need. Anyone who seeks to take the life of another person clearly has something wrong in their brain, a mental disorder or chemical imbalance of some sort, and it strikes me as heinous to kill someone whose mental faculties are distorted and not functioning properly.

In fact, it strikes me as heinous to kill anyone, full stop. Saddam may have had no respect for the lives of his political opponents, Kurds, Shi'ites, and others, but that by no means provides legitimation or an excuse for us to not show respect for his life. He may be guilty of foul and monstrous deeds, crimes so repulsive that it makes the skin crawl, but he is nonetheless a human being, a person with family and friends who must no doubt be in mourning, forced to suffer sorrow they did not ask to receive. Yes, Saddam inflicted vast amounts of sorrow upon thousands of innocent families, but that in no way grants us the right to inflict more. This cycle of sorrow should not be perpetuated. We should be above that. It sickens me that we allowed this cycle to revolve once more. Saddam should have instead been left in prison for the remainder of his natural life, where the memory of his crimes could gnaw away at his mind and perhaps even bring him to a state of remorse. Instead, he has died defiant, perhaps even a martyr for his cause and supporters. That, to me, defeats even the goals of those bloodthirsty individuals who sought and got his execution.

There is also one other important issue to consider here: Saddam's execution may have actually been illegal as it took place on the Islamic holiday of Eid ul-Adha. I've researched this and am yet to find anything definitive such as a clear statement from an official Iraqi legal website, but I have found information from the news media, such as an article from the New York Times and this one from the Kansas City Star. Basically, a law written during Saddam's regime prohibits executions on public/religious holidays, and it has been left on the books rather than being revoked, so it is still in force. This sounds pretty simple, but it's a bit more complex due to the nature of Eid ul-Adha. It is not based on our Gregorian calendar but on an Islamic lunar calendar, so for us Gregorian calendar users, it falls on a different day each year, and matters are further complicated by differences between Sunnis and Shi'ites. Eid ul-Adha this year begins on 30 December for Sunnis (of which Saddam is one) and 31 December for Shi'ites (who control the current Iraqi government). So, at best, the execution is of dubious legal status - it may have been legal, it may not have been, and I have to wonder if those carrying it out even care if they have broken laws in the process. It seems some people so greatly desired Saddam's death that they aren't all too concerned with due legal process, a quality they funnily enough share with the tyrant himself.

For the sake of brevity, I shall conclude now, though this is by no means my full thoughts. I am appalled that people have taken delight and glee in Saddam's death. He may have committed some unspeakably horrific acts in his life, but he was nonetheless a human with a family. You certainly would not want me to express delight or glee if you or your father died, regardless of what you or he may have done in life. The complete lack of respect from some people is deplorable and reveals a lack of nuanced thought; respecting the man's family and respecting the man's humanity does in no way respect or condone the atrocious acts worthy of condemnation that he committed in life. RIP, Saddam Hussein. May you find the peace you evidently had not found in life. And I shall close with another RIP, an even more heartfelt one, for all of Saddam's innocent victims. May the memory of the lives of each and every one of them be cherished.
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[10 July 2006|07:21 pm]
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[Current Music |'The Cry Of Mankind' by My Dying Bride]

You know you live in Queensland when the temperature on a winter's day is 24C (75.2F for the Yanks) and that's considered to be just three above average (69.8F).

I find it interesting that for the last while, John Howard and Peter Costello have maintained that there was no secret deal about a handover of the Liberal Party leadership, but now it has come to light that there appears to have actually been something of the sort. And, of course, Howard is brushing it off as a "conversation". I can't help but suspect he's playing a petty semantics game. It doesn't take much brainpower to realise that any deal would have taken place in a conversation between the two parties. I'm cynical enough to not trust John Howard as far as I could throw him anyway. It's a bit rich that he's spewing forth nonsense about the "good of Australia" when his government hasn't exactly worked for much Australian good. I can't say I'm looking forward to next year's election though, given that I hate the Labour Party, especially Kim Beazley, about as much as I hate the Liberals/Nationals and none of the alternatives exactly set my political world alight either. I feel tempted to run as an independent and see if anyone votes for me.

Moving abroad, the continual cycle of violence in Israel is just ridiculous. Do people just not think, are they such slaves to base desires for revenge that they are incapable of seeing the bigger picture? I have to wonder: don't the Palestinians realise that continual aggression such as suicide bombings, kidnappings, and lobbing missiles over the Gaza border are sure to incur the wrath of one of the world's most formidable armies? And don't the Israelis realise that they're just taking the bait and encouraging even more violent responses from the Palestinians? I cannot fathom why people are so unable or unwilling to live in peace.

Speaking of that, it seems Iraq isn't exactly improving. Now, as much as I oppose the Iraq War, I previously stated that the US and its allies should at least see the job out (though have the decency to formulate some kind of timetable or exit plan!). I'm starting to wonder, which is the lesser of two evils? Is a continued military presence really going to do much good in the long term, or serve as an increasing source of antagonism? Or will the country just implode into this decade's Somalia if there is a removal of forces?

You'd think people would learn from history. Didn't the 20th century teach us anything about the utter futility of warfare? No, of course not, just like the 19th century didn't, nor did the 18th, or the 17th, or the ...
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The newspaper says, says, say ... it's true? [5 April 2004|07:21 am]
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[Current Mood | contemplative]
[Current Music |'I Will Follow (30 March 2001)' by U2]

Remember my random explosions into the Popmart intro? Well, I haven't had the urge to break out into Pop Muzik lately. We're making progress, people!

Made a really cool new icon last night. I'm using it for this entry, so check it out. I love finally knowing how to animated GIFs.

You know, voice conversations are fun and would be a whole lot better if there were no echo and no delay. But I've discovered if I turn off my firewall, I can have voice conversations on AIM, albeit of substandard quality. Anyone know if you can have voice conversations with multiple participants? Also, for you ladies, [info]deadlydenial has a sexy voice ... or at least thinks he does.

Right, now onto the serious component of this entry.

Last night there were two interesting news articles and I hope I can remember both of them. There was one about Iraq, and for 'unbiased' media coverage, it was rather ... persuasive, shall we say? At least it tried to be that way. It was about how it now turns out the WMDs have not been found, do not exist, and the intelligence was faulty. So I was watching this, and I was thinking "do the ends justify the means?" Basically, was the overthrow of Saddam Hussein alright, even if the reason used to invade an independent, sovereign country to remove him was actually in error? Was the reason in error?

Personally, I'm not sure of my stance on Iraq any more. I did support the war with a raging passion, as those of you from YTF may remember. I was the guy who yelled at the TV when people protested against it and I still think the protestors, by and large, totally missed the point and raised the wrong arguments. However ... what's happened now is a shambles. Iraq has not been managed well, it's falling to pieces in a mess of guerrilla warfare and previously contained rivalry, America has not won any friends or converted enemies into allies ... and I think history is going to judge the allies harshly no matter what they do. If they pull out, the Iraqi nation will collapse into warring factions and history will slander the USA and its allies for not finishing the job. If the allies stay, they're going to get blasted for poor management. Essentially, they're suck between a rock and a hard place.

But I've gotten off track. I agree that Saddam Hussein was a madman and the less people like him in charge of countries, the better. But on the other hand, I don't believe the ends ever justify the means. Feeding the starving doesn't mean you should rob a grocer's. Winning the Rugby World Cup doesn't justify cheating and giving the opposition food poisoning. Does removing a brutal dictator we're better off without justify invading Iraq on faulty intelligence? Indeed, it was an independent nation - it can do what it wants and make whatever weapons it feels like it. In hindsight, I'm struggling to see how that can justify an invasion - it's INDEPENDENT, people. If we apply America's logic of eliminating threats pre-emptively to the whole world, doesn't that mean a 'rogue nation' can invade America because it knows the US is going to invade it? So I've been thinking about that.

Poll #273339
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

In Iraq, did the ends justify the means?

View Answers

Yes! I don't see why you'd even ask.
2 (14.3%)

Yes, though things could have been done better
4 (28.6%)

I'm unsure or simply don't care.
1 (7.1%)

No, the ends did not justify the means in this case.
5 (35.7%)

No! The ends never justify the means.
1 (7.1%)

Andre, these poll options stink because none of them are my opinion! (Alright, fine, but if you choose this, would you mind stating what your opinion is?)
1 (7.1%)



The other article ... whatever was it? It was interesting, but I can't remember. Oh, there was that thing about "American unemployment figures have improved" but people were still complaining about jobs going outside the country. 'Scuse me? If you want to live in a global community - which the USA seems to want to do - then you've got to accept the fact jobs are going to go offshore. Furthermore, I find it offensive that some think jobs going outside America is a bad thing. We need jobs here too. But as I said, if you're living in a global community, you have to live with the fact some jobs will go elsewhere, and I bet other countries will be complaining some of their jobs are going to yours too. There is a choice though. If you want to keep jobs in your country, it's quite simple - close your borders and force corporations to remain there. Sure, your economy will probably die, but hey, you'll have the jobs onshore!

I also find it intriguing how a lot of news here can be rather Americentic sometimes. It's starting to bother me actually, not because I don't care about America and not because I want to hear more local news (most of it's boring anyway), but because I want to hear about all other parts of the world. I do care about what's happening in Sierra Leone, I would rather a proper article on political riots in Armenia than just some five second snippet, and you know what? The Baltic nations are probably making some really interesting news. Though not a lot of people seem to think on a broad global scale like that, which is sad. Whatever's wrong with fair and equal coverage to all regions? It gets boring when every day you have articles from the same old places.

I have a Maths C problem solving exam today. Yay! That I haven't studied for. Hurrah! And don't care about. Hooray! Wish me luck!

( These are amusing. )
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