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[10 July 2006|07:21 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | australia, conflict, human stupidity, iraq, israel, learning from history, palestine, politics, queensland, violence, warfare, weather | ] |
| [ | 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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| Worldwide disaster, violence, news coverage, et cetera. |
[12 October 2005|09:49 pm] |
I remember sometime, I believe roughly two years ago, I wrote about how hard it was for me to watch the news because the sorrow and pain in the reports affected me too much. It seems the opposite is now happenning - there's simply so much tragedy in the world that I'm becoming numb to it. When the London bombings happened, I followed the news closely, waiting for updates, but since then, the horrors of the world cease to impact me. It's become horribly everyday. Bombings in Iraq, terrorism in Bali, thousands dead from an earthquake in Asia ... and all I can do is sit around criticising the (sensationalist) coverage of the mainstream media. It's true that the coverage is sometimes horrifically overblown or has a misguided focus, but I used to normally be so stunned by death and violence in any form. I don't know quite what's come over me, but I'm not comfortable with it and hope it's just a passing phase. More importantly, let us all hope for peaceful resolutions to all the conflicts worldwide - it may be an idealistic hope, but the reality we have is completely unacceptable. Sure, we couldn't have stopped natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and the recent Asian quake, but the Darfur genocide, worldwide terrorism, and civil wars are more than just preventable. It's a sad commentary on the world when you see how so many people think violence rather than sensible and reasonable dialogue is the solution to problems.
Hasn't anyone figured out that harming and killing people just makes a problem worse? How many thousand years have humans been on this planet? Geez. We are slow learners. |
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| On the issue of guns. |
[3 October 2005|09:19 pm] |
Apparently the American state of Florida has passed a law that authorises "gun owners to shoot anyone in a public area who they believe threaten[s] their safety". My only knowledge of this law comes from that (poorly written) article, so I obviously am in no position to discuss it specifically, but it does bring into my mind generalised ponderings on gun ownership.
( There is no valid justification for guns ... or is there? ) |
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