The Problem with Empire - Brexdamtwit

Empires are nothing but motes of sand blowing in the wind. Sometimes they phut around for hours; at other times, they whip along for centuries!

Empires have waxed and waned throughout the eons. They grow from slow mewling collections of the dirty unwashed who huddle expectantly around unsanitised watering holes. Periodically fight off four-legged animals stupid enough not to be at least partially eat-a-domesticable. Then move forward with shocked faux fervency, through the horror of public orgies held beneath prickly moist sheets.

The above usually occurs through a lens of no-nonsense rational expansion. Where higher beings nicely bubble along the top, insisting that their actions are aligned with the wishes of whichever deities they've taken as their own. This allows them to parade through their existence, cloaked with the hair of demurred gravitas. Luckily this also allows history to leave the most memorable of moments, as unexpected bonuses for future generations hilarity.

Society's progress rarely marches in a straight line, often experiencing setbacks peppered by climate, wars, the odd volcano, and those who dream of wealth, power, dominion and utter control, by whatever means necessary. Empires slowly peak in grandeur as their messy conundrums surpass the goals of interconnected villages, cities, regions, politicians and quickly jettisoned ideals; before, sadly, having the most insane of leaders inelegantly hoiked upon them. Experience terminal collapse. Then have the final indignity of ending up in the guts of some bookend eating worm.

When it comes to the less appealing sides of empire, they can have a deleterious effect on the populace of any country they are successful in overwhelming. Let's briefly take a very small country, which had a very large impact - belgium, and another country now called the democratic republic of congo. In the 1880’s belgium’s population was roughly around the 5.5 million mark whilst also been over 6,282(ish) km away from the congo. We, or probably very few of us will ever know the true death toll from that little romp into the interior. But with estimates ranging from 5 - 12 million people killed, outside of a world war they’d give any tyrannical dictator a run for the top spot of attempted genocide.

From such practices as severing a person’s hand, to outright murder, they could be viewed as lawful terrorists of their age. In terms of brutality, they still surpass many of the actions carried out by isis - in their onward march to an attempted caliphate. It’s probable the world might have mobilised had the group killed the same number of people as king leopold ii, if we believe there’s more than a raft of empathy and humanity amongst the global political brokers. But how many of us heard, or can recall hearing anything regarding such atrocities, whilst flicking snot balls during monotone history lectures?

History does repeat itself, it’s just that society usually has amnesia injected into its veins.

Security vetoes blood soaked hands?

Amazed at the shocks revereberating around the "developed" world that two permanent members of the security council vetoed the implementation of sanctions against Zimbabwe...

Let's see now?

Russia! Oh yes, a poster child for democracy. Not poisioning ex-spies it disagrees with, nor grabbing assets that under a different premier would have been sold off for cheap trinkets - like a tantrum child. Nor showing how manly and muscular it can be by posing with upper torso exposed whilst fishing. With a tenuous, almost Mugabgiesque view of what democracy should be, that's permanent member security veto number 1.

Then there's China, sigh. Ivory back on the market, promoting quiet diploamcy whilst buying up the "developing" - as if the entire world is not in a continual state of developemnt - world's resources, but unlike the Mugabe regimie more likely to imprision for decades as opposed to have the army or ex-army go around and kill them. Duff them up a bit yes. Kill them? No! Well, if you don't take into account Tibet, or the Tiananmen Square massacres (nearly 20 years ago - strange that it still feels like yesterday), or the Falun Gong 'sect', or "AIDS activists have been followed by police and beggars rounded up." And there we have permanent member security veto number 2.

So with all that and China soon to be in bed with Russia over oil & gas, supply and demand, then it should come as no surprise at all ,that things went the way they did in the UN security vote.

And there's obvioulsy going to be no surprise when the 1920's recession clips our chirpy wings, bringing us down from the heady clouds of the never-never we (oh so seemingly briefly) inhabited, to the scrabbling scorched earth of the never-never again.

IndyMac Bank, with perhaps Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae going the same way and destroying 50% of the US mortgage backed guarantees, the green back is looking, as each day passes, more the sick puppy that will soon be on its back in the advanced stages of rigor mortis; with everyone saying 'how did it happen?'

Well those who wouldn't be giving thanks that the great satan has been laid low.

Overload. Input. BSOD. Super T!

With failing memory cells, sudden memory loss, and having to reboot at regular intervals during the morning, I often wonder why I bother getting out of bed.

Below is an image of my desktop. Fairly icon free, with Google desktop keeping me informed of the: time, temperature, appointments, events, many of the ups and downs occurring in the world, beyond my 23 walls.

To many of my friends, it just comes across as me being sad. "You're just stuck there in front of the computer, all day. No wonder you're getting fat!"

But to me, it's nothing more than a heavenly experience. Within the space of an hour I have digested the news circling the world, chatted with friends (whilst reading) around the world. Read many of the online papers, news stories and settled down to replying to emails; over a relaxing steaming cup of coffee, whilst listening to the plethora of streaming programming hitting my sound card from that doyen of tit-bits, BBC Radio 4. All the while retaining my slowly slipping sanity, by not been part of the rat-race.

I am now far beyond the need to risk life and limb skateboarding off a sky-scrapper or bungy jumping down the grand canyon. Those particular notions bring nothing more promising than a panoptic vista (no, not that one!) of all manner of broken painful lost bones, followed by those many months convalescing in hospital. And all for the sake of a shaky camera shot. No. If I require an adrenaline junkie rush, I'll fly solo in low-sec space of the MMORG game I play, eve-online. That and not getting mugged or shot at, whilst standing in a McDonalds queue are more than enough in the way of excitement, that I wish to experience during this particular moment in my lifeline.

So Super Tuesday is nearing an end, when we'll have more of an idea about who the next leader of the free world might be. And they do need change, badly!

After so many years of participating in the formulation of things like Outsourcing, Hedge Funds, burning the planet into oblivion etc., etc. It's time for a change in thinking. To come away from the 'me, me, me' culture that has been perversely corrosive over the past few decades. To think of all the species and planet as a symbiotic whole, and not just a hole for plundering and landfill.

Ghosts in the shell

Sometimes as we meander our way through life, with some experiencing a harder time of it than others. We come across and meet up with people that stop us in our tracks. Who actually make us sit up, and actively think!

They have a selfless abundance of goodness that is remarkable for its sheer pugnacious disregard for reciprocation. A wealth of untrammelled energy which is utterly astounding.

Then on the flip-side you have the Stalin's, Pol Pot's, Mugabe's, Bush, Bin Laden's and now the one from Kenya, whose entire existence appears to be that of making everyone else's hell.

Don't get me wrong, I'm as humanist-atheistic leaning as the next sensible person. But with the number of atrocities jumping by the day and, of course, impending (again) global calamities around the corner, perhaps there is something more than just electrons whizzing through grey spongy soup which makes those few people, special.

Flying trotters

So a politician's finally done the decent thing and resigned.

To clear his name.

After, and only possibly mind - nothing's yet been proven! But been caught with both front trotters, snout, and floppy ears waving around in the crumbs jar. It's more and more, beginning to look like a re-run of the Major years.

Sale madness, food waste, holiday's end

Sales should normally be coming to an end! But credit-crunch vampires, recession worries and lower than average spending, have - like naughty St. Trinian's - ganged up and put paid to that. So each day since the season of shoplifting and goodwill upped on its downers, the Hydraverts (many-headed advertising monster) mercilessly batters, the poor beleaguered cashless shopper!

Considering that over the holiday period and on Christmas day itself, a fair portion of shops in the capital were open. From the evidence of people shopping until the last of Christmas Eve however, you would have thought there was going to be imminent global rationing, or at the very least major shortages. People were packing trolleys to overflowing, and pushing each other out of the way to get those turkeys.

Now a 20lb turkey to feed 8 people is more than acceptable, but to feed only 4? Gluttony and wastefulness are terms that spring to mind. How much of the Christmas fare have we - and yes I include myself as part of the herd - been waiting for more than six months to enjoy, simply ended up in a landfill? How many presents have we all brought that people have ungratefully responded with, "don't know why you bothered! Wouldn't wear," and why is it always clothes, "that load of shite if they paid me!" Although saying that, I have been guilty of ingratitude once or twice in my lifetime, but never quite like that. Just once, or twice mind!

But it's a never-ending merry-go-round of what we really need and greed. We can't really afford - well the planet can't really afford - our wasteful over exuberance. So next Christmas I'm not going to buy, give or receive any pressies or cards. Just my way of giving a gift, to the environment!

Churchillian bridges

Never in the field of human history was so much owed by so many to so few!

A misquote, I know. A misquote, with which I hope the fat man with the perpetual cigar would have been happy with.

Nearly 70 years have flowed under the bridge of history when he said that. Sadly it would appear the same waters are going round and round and round. Becoming increasingly cloudy, ever more dangerous, with no high ground in sight to escape to.

Of course, one day, it will all just evaporate.