A work colleague sent me an article from Iraq with a comment that I should read it because it would help me to understand why it is that so many people loathe the Americans and have problems with the people who have "invaded" their country.
The story is about a leading Shia MP who fought against Saddam Hussein and whose house was recently broken into by British troops in what the authorities call an 'intelligence blunder'.
Considering that this man then had his front door smashed in with explosives, his cars damaged, his computers wrecked and some $260,000 stolen from his property I can understand why he would be less than happy. Considering that the British army had just allocated a helicopter resource to him to travel to Baghdad from his southern quarters I find it difficult to believe that the army there is SO incompetent that a person that they support and think of as an ally is the one whose home is attacked in this manner. Then again I find it interesting that anyone would keep a quarter of a million dollars in the house either even when the banks are probably less than reliable in that country.
The story whether it is true or false is nonetheless one which will make the rounds and will influence the opinions of people as they hang around the coffee houses and chat or exchange dinner conversation and the like. In short, if past experience is any teacher, the story will become the underpinnings of yet more information which can be used in as many ways as the person telling it or the person listening considers useful.
I would not be surprised if there was more to this story than meets the eye in more than one respect. Stories from the middle east have a tendency to hide more than they reveal.
That said let's be realistic. Since the end of the First World War the British, French and Americans have been involved in the creation of the middle east as it exists today. Their carving up of the former Ottoman empire resulted in the countries which exist today. It was their work which created the ruling structures within those countries and it was their work which has in many instances ensured their continuing survival. The Saudi royal house was nothing but a bunch of marauding tribesmen when they were used in the process of winning the war in the middle east in the First World War. Look at them now. Look at how they are treating the people who live in their country and look at who can thus be blamed for the consequences. For that matter look at any of the other countries in the region as well. All of them have little or no experience of the notion of democracy. Their entire history is filled with strong ruling elites some more benign than others. Tribal and family loyalties are what drive this region in reality while people use religion and ethnicity to hide this fact.
The connectivity between oil and the ruling elite in America cannot be discounted. At present we have some of the highest oil prices in the world. Who does this benefit? Follow the money trail I always say. If you do you will find that the oil companies of the world are the beneficiaries. Then look at who owns and runs these companies, and I do NOT mean their shareholders and you will find such illustrious names as the Bush family highly prominent among them.
Without meaning to be cynical it is the last hurrah for the Bush family to enrich itself, after all who are they going to run for President next - the current Governor of Florida? God help us!
But then again that family claims that God is on their side and from recent experience, they may be right though one else seems to be.
Sunday, April 03, 2005
Saturday, April 02, 2005
More on the AASW
I wonder if readers out there can help me with some information.
I am advised that the Australian Association of Social Workers has a constitution which stipulates how the Board of Management should operate. I am advised that within this constitution it is specified how the Board of Management is made up of Directors, appointed by the Branches (or at least their Committees of Management) and some executive directors elected directly by the membership.
Can someone tell me how there can be a Director of the AASW if a Branch does NOT hold an election and does not select its committee of management and so does not have the body available from which a director can be appointed?
That seems to be the case with the Western Australian Branch of the Association which I am advised has not had an election since 2003 and so has not had a duly elected committee of management since that time. Yet it seems to have someone on the Board of the AASW who claims to be a Director representing the members in WA.
Could this possibly be true? Surely NOT!
After all we are talking about a group of highly ethical and well motivated and morally sound individuals who would no more violate the rules of their Association than fly.
So can someone out there help me with some facts please?
I am advised that the Australian Association of Social Workers has a constitution which stipulates how the Board of Management should operate. I am advised that within this constitution it is specified how the Board of Management is made up of Directors, appointed by the Branches (or at least their Committees of Management) and some executive directors elected directly by the membership.
Can someone tell me how there can be a Director of the AASW if a Branch does NOT hold an election and does not select its committee of management and so does not have the body available from which a director can be appointed?
That seems to be the case with the Western Australian Branch of the Association which I am advised has not had an election since 2003 and so has not had a duly elected committee of management since that time. Yet it seems to have someone on the Board of the AASW who claims to be a Director representing the members in WA.
Could this possibly be true? Surely NOT!
After all we are talking about a group of highly ethical and well motivated and morally sound individuals who would no more violate the rules of their Association than fly.
So can someone out there help me with some facts please?
Shanghai and Global Markets
I was reading the other day about the city of Shanghai in China.
Imagine, if you can, taking the entire population of Australia and placing into ONE city site.
That is Shanghai.
Did you know that China in the last year used up 40% of the world's concrete and over 90% of the world's steel?
I didn't! I know I know I guess that makes me an uneducated git!
What I do know is that I looked at my petrol prices lately and nearly had a seizure, I know I looked at the prices that I am being charged for work on getting things built and nearly had a seizure and I wonder if there is a connection between the high cost of these things and the fact that China is using up a heck of a lot of the world's supply of stuff?
I then ask where they get their money from and I guess I have to admit that most of the things that I own in terms of clothing and indeed a few other things seem to have been made in China
Perhaps I am paying twice. Once for the goods I purchase from China and once for the things I need because they are a scarce commodity because of the Chinese purchases.
Hmm!
Anyone got any ideas?
Imagine, if you can, taking the entire population of Australia and placing into ONE city site.
That is Shanghai.
Did you know that China in the last year used up 40% of the world's concrete and over 90% of the world's steel?
I didn't! I know I know I guess that makes me an uneducated git!
What I do know is that I looked at my petrol prices lately and nearly had a seizure, I know I looked at the prices that I am being charged for work on getting things built and nearly had a seizure and I wonder if there is a connection between the high cost of these things and the fact that China is using up a heck of a lot of the world's supply of stuff?
I then ask where they get their money from and I guess I have to admit that most of the things that I own in terms of clothing and indeed a few other things seem to have been made in China
Perhaps I am paying twice. Once for the goods I purchase from China and once for the things I need because they are a scarce commodity because of the Chinese purchases.
Hmm!
Anyone got any ideas?
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Monkey Business?
"Monkey Business" is how the news on our SBS station described the recent findings in the United States about the behaviour of primates.
In the USA (at least) there is an obsession with celebrities. The tests which have been conducted with Rhesus monkeys appear to show that there is something hard wired in primates that ensures that they actually choose to look at pictures of a dominant female's face or her hindquarters in preference to giving in to something as fundamental as thirst.
It appears that these primates at least have a greater need to identify with the dominant females than their basic needs.
What does this tell us in the human world?
It would be interesting to see if the next person to be charged with some offence like ogling uses the research to suggest that he is hard wired - like all primates to ogle what he regards as a dominant female.
Let's bet that someone will use this defence. I wonder what the courts would make of it?
More to the point I wonder what the church would make of it? After all they are the ones telling us that we have free will. Perhaps this only applies to those aspects of our lives that we actually have some control over.
In the USA (at least) there is an obsession with celebrities. The tests which have been conducted with Rhesus monkeys appear to show that there is something hard wired in primates that ensures that they actually choose to look at pictures of a dominant female's face or her hindquarters in preference to giving in to something as fundamental as thirst.
It appears that these primates at least have a greater need to identify with the dominant females than their basic needs.
What does this tell us in the human world?
It would be interesting to see if the next person to be charged with some offence like ogling uses the research to suggest that he is hard wired - like all primates to ogle what he regards as a dominant female.
Let's bet that someone will use this defence. I wonder what the courts would make of it?
More to the point I wonder what the church would make of it? After all they are the ones telling us that we have free will. Perhaps this only applies to those aspects of our lives that we actually have some control over.
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