Friday Music Blogging

Cameo - Word Up

A very funky tune and check out the red codpiece!

Friday Cat Blogging


Heidi being submissive to George

Tuesday Thoughts

I've always held the view that the uber rich should contribute more, but they have done their damn best to create a 'Nanny' state for themseleves, all the while putting the burden on the less well off.

Oh they and their enablers talk about 'marketisation' and 'lawyers in Tescos' and 'Polyclinics' but the uber wealthy will still go see their personal banker, personal doctor and retained lawyer and fob shitty services onto the poor.

Its got nothing to do with 'freeing the market', or 'worship the business model', its all about preserving their privileged position.

Interesting Video

Paul Grignon's 47-minute animated presentation of "Money as Debt" tells in very simple and effective graphic terms what money is and how it is being created.

Interesting Sunday Link

Mother Jones - Mission Creep: US Military Presence Worldwide

The map animation that opens this package uses Pentagon worldwide troop data from every half-decade since 1950, plus 2007, the latest year for which the data is available. These numbers are often fuzzy: Some deployments are classified, others are temporary, and just because the Defense Department claims 30 US troops in Indonesia last year doesn't mean 1,500 didn't pass through on training missions. Even so, the map, and the associated research, should give you a good feel for what the Pentagon is up to around the world.

h/t Chicago Dyke

Friday Cat Blogging


Heidi contemplates which bottle she will have tonight


George in one of his favorite places

Thoughts on Afghanistan and Pakistan

So I am watching a Newsnight segment on the resignation of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, and they are talking about 'building democracy' and so forth and all I could think was that in no period of history that I know of have Afghanistan or the volatile tribal areas of Pakistan like Baluchistan or North Waziristan have ever been successfully ruled by any form of central authority, you cannot create a country where there was none originally. Even when the British Raj was at its height it got chased out of Afghanistan, twice. The most they could do was pay off the tribes and their chiefs.

Even the geography of the area goes against it, deep valleys divided by high mountains, often cut off from each other during winter, hardly conducive to creating a country or democracy. The tribal bond goes deeper than any national bond as well.

Which is why the attempts by the UK, Canada and its NATO allies to impose some form of democracy or central control in Afghanistan will fail and the attempts by Pakistan to bring their tribal areas under central control also will end in failure and more bloodshed.

Friday Music Blogging

As its the Olympics, I thought this cool video directed by Spike Jonze and starring Sophia Coppola for the Chemical Brother's tune 'Elektrobank' was rather apt

Friday Cat Blogging


a rather nice photo of Heidi, she looks less mad and bad


George enjoying the very rare sunshine

Book Review - Ken MacLeod The Night Sessions



I have always been a huge fan of Ken MacLeod's novels and was excited when I heard he had a new novel coming out and I was not disappointed at all.

I really enjoyed it, was gripping from start to finish. I have always loved the way Ken MacLeod can deal with fantastic future ideas but grounds them in reality.

10/10

Georgia *update*

Russia agrees to Georgia ceasefire

French president Nicolas Sarkozy brokers peace deal to end fighting in South Ossetia

Moscow today agreed to a peace deal brokered by French president Nicolas Sarkozy that could see an end to the fighting in Georgia.

The ceasefire agreement calls for both Russian and Georgian troops to withdraw to the positions they held before hostilities began last week.

Sarkozy, who holds the European Union's rotating presidency, visited Moscow today for talks with the Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev.

The six-point plan, endorsed by Medvedev, calls on Russia and Georgia to end the fighting and to allow access for humanitarian assistance. Sarkozy said the EU was ready to send peacekeepers to the area if all parties involved in the conflict agreed.

However, Medvedev said Russian troops would remain in Abkhazia and South Ossetia to "uphold security".

Georgia seems to of have bad tactics, for instance they could have blocked the Roki Tunnel (which is where the Russians entered)and made sure they had the ability to shoot down Russian aircraft

Its a mystery why Georgia would antagonize Russia, if they were not prepared for it, I find it hard to believe that they would be naive as to expect one of the Western powers to step in.

The Guardian has a good map of the area

More Analysis

David Osler - South Ossetia: the left doesn't have to take sides

Ken MacLeod - Guns of August

Chris Floyd - Marching Through Georgia III: Reality's Rout and Cheney's Viagra

Lenin's Tomb - Schisms and cataclyms of the new world order.

The ever excellent Billmon has made a reappearance on Daily Kos with a superb piece on the recent conflict in the Caucasus region - Anatomy of A(nother) Fiasco

Organised Rage - Russian armies can’t march into other peoples countries, whilst Russian shoppers march into Selfridges.

Friday Cat Blogging


Heidi loves shopping


George

Friday Cat Blogging


George the incredibly handsome




Heidi loving the hat box, with George taking a more cautious approach


'I want mai hat'