you're crazier than a coconut

On Friday night, in the town square in Vilcabamba, I hung out with some girls who turned out to be totally, certifiably, insane.

Not insane in a boil your bunny kind of way mind.

One of them was from California, a lovely and charming person who was very easy to talk to. However, some of the beliefs that she enunciated were as follows:

• We're currently in Biblical "end times" as evidenced by people moving into the wilderness
• The world is going to end (she wasn't exactly specific on what would happen) in 2012 because that's when the mayan calender runs out and those old Mayans obviously knew more than we do
• If you want something badly enough you just have to believe and it will come to you (a la the secret), whether that's money or anything else
• The United States is run by a fascist regime who are going to declare martial law at any minute
• Russia is not actually run by corrupt, autocratic ex KGB agents. Instead, Russia is controlled by it's people, who have wisdom and spirituality and Russia is the centre of the saving of the world (didn't quite get this one, but it's all based upon the Anastascia books apparently, don't know what they are)

The other girl talked about

• her healing hands and how if you believe your body can heal itself (I'm not quite sure how my body will grow back the snapped tendon in my knee, but it sounds nice)
• how the earth has power, including every tree and leaf
• how we need to support the earth and help it heal itself (the ideal way to do this is to have a little ceremony where everyone holds hands and tries to help the earth heal)
• how Vilcabamba is this amazing, energised place and she is so excited to be here and the earth's spiritual forces are so strong here (Vilcabamba is supposedly the site of extremely long lived individuals, however it's nothing special, surrounded by hills that are pretty but deforested with some erosion and full of little shops selling soft drink and packaged foods)

So anyway, I hung out with them for quite a while, it was an extremely educational experience. I bit my tongue for the most part, rather than share my opinions of their opinions! I have to say, of all the cranks and crazies I've met,these two girls were quite up there in terms of their self deluded world beliefs.

Now I might have opinions that many people disagree with, but I should imagine they can see how I arrive at those opinions. They disagree with my analysis, not my basic information. These two had opinions that were so crazy that it was impossible to debate adequately.

cheers

Harry

Cuenca

Cuenca is a very old and historical city, supposedly the prettiest in Ecuador. It is a good place to buy Panama hats (more correctly known as Montecristi hats).

I saw more attractive women in the bus station in Loja than I saw in 2 days in Cuenca!

Oh the horror

For all those planning a holiday to a tropical paradise, I´m not sure I could recommend Cuba. After all, journalists keep on telling us that Guantanamo Bay is a hell on earth, with searing temperatures that would fry the toughest peace loving Islamic aid worker who was mistakenly arrested while innocently trying to help his fellow man.

The Democratic Party apparently agree, with news that they´re planning not to resume funding for the detention centre at Guantanamo Bay.

Now while it has been suggested (by fools and the criminally insane) that all the detainees should simply be sent home, there are problems with such a plan. One is recidivism. A high percentage of detainees released earlier have been recaptured in combat or in other actions associated with terrorism.

The second is home itself. Most countries don´t actually want these nut jobs back and will refuse to take them!

I have a solution, why doesn´t Australia take them? We could build a camp in the middle of the Woomera range (the middle, not the edge) and put them all to hard labour. In fact they could build the camp themselves. And good luck trying to run away when it´s hundreds of kilometres of nothingness all around.

We won´t have to worry about journalists either. The only reason they bang on about Gitmo is because of the mojitos they´re drinking in the bar while writing up their fevered imaginings of what goes on there.

As an added bonus, such a plan could be used for all of Australia´s high security prisoners as well. They wouldn´t have time to stab each other in the showers when they´re doing 12 hours per day of manual labour in the middle of desert. They probably wouldn´t get showers anyway, not much water out there!

cheers

Harry

Back to the future 2

While I don´t actually remember the various arms limitations talks that went on during the cold war, I have read about them since. Ineffectual would be a nice way to put things. Arguing over the finer details and both sides trying to cheat each other or gain some kind of advantage.

Well I´m sure everyone will be glad to know that we´re going back to the past.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124268963178032407.html#mod=djemEditorialPage

George Bush achieved, Obama talks.

Cheers

Harry

I was for torture before I was against torture...

Anyone heard about the vast conspiracy engulfing Washington at the moment? Apparently the CIA lied to Nancy Pelosi about waterboarding!

Click here for a very interesting article about the whole subject, excerpt below.

A disturbing epidemic of amnesia seems to be plaguing my former colleagues on Capitol Hill. After the September 11, 2001, attacks, members of the committees charged with overseeing our nation’s intelligence services had no higher priority than stopping al-Qaeda. In the autumn of 2002, while I was chairman of the House of Representatives’ intelligence committee, senior members of Congress were briefed on the CIA’s “High Value Terrorist Program,” including the development of “enhanced interrogation techniques” and what those techniques were…

For all those people who recall the atmosphere back then, this was a time when terrorist attacks seemed imminent. There was the shoe bomber and those pricks who ensured that we can no longer take liquids onboard planes. The Democratic Party was attacking Bush hysterically for not doing ENOUGH about national security. Almost all of Congress voted for war with Iraq. One of Al Queda´s most senior people, who had helped to organise a majority of their attacks, was in captivity and refusing to talk, because he knew the US wouldn´t torture him.

The CIA came up with a series of proposals for dealing with such situations. They put forward these proposals. These proposals were vetted thoroughly by lawyers who assessed them against US and international law. Congressional and Senate leaders (of both parties) were briefed thoroughly about this whole process.

And then, after all this, three people were waterboarded. Now I¨m sure it wouldn´t be a very pleasant experience, I´m certainy not going to volunteer for it. But the fact is that it had been done on US military personnel to prepare them for interrogation. It was done within strict guidelines and under medical supervision.

No toe nails were pulled out, no blood was let, no red hot metal was applied to the body. Compared to such things waterboarding is not torture. Yes it´s unpleasant, but so is doing the dishes, or listening to country music.

Now that a sense of proportion has been established, let´s have those Democrats who were briefed about and agreed to such operations come forward and stop being hypocrites. It was the right thing to do, it gained valuable information at an important time and we should be prepared to do it again if need be.

For another POV on the subject, I highly recommend this link here to a Pelosi press release on the matter.

cheers

Harry

edit - stupid blogspot! In previews this all looks good, but when I publish everything goes to italics. Arrrgh!

Is it just me or is the swine flu scare a crock of shit?

I may post more about this later

cheers

Harry

If you only read one opinion article this year...

make it this one....

Greg Sheridan writing in The Australian about Israel and the Palestinian questions.

For me, the key points are this (without looking to remove blame from Israel for things theymight have done).

Why is Israel the only country condemned by the UN and the media for human rights violations?  Fine, if Israel does the wrong thing, have at them.  But then you should also have at everybody else.  Can you really compare a couple of hundred civilian deaths in Gaza (not counting Hamas combatants here) against the 300,000 or more deaths in Sudan?  Why does no-one ever mention the huge numbers of Palestinians killed by other Palestinians?

Why does no-one ever mention the economic failings (massive economic failings) of the Arab states that surround Israel?  Oh no, it´s all the Jew´s fault (most things are apparently).

Why on earth do people who would be put to death in brutal and horrific ways (homosexuals), locked up without trial for indefinite periods (various academics and so-called intellectuals) or subjected to a lifetime of oppression and sujugation (women) think that´s it a great idea to support Islamic fundamentalists (islamo fascists) and the various loony Arab regimes?

Now I´m not going to argue about the truth or otherwise of Israel´s crimes (although I would be happy to), but even if everything that has ever been said about Israel is true, surely the above points are still valid?  Attack Israel for its failings, but make sure you look properly at everyone else´s failings as well.

Read the article, it´s rather excellent.

cheers

Harry

ps, if you read the comments there´s some quite interesting stuff in there.  My favourite - 

Anti Semitism is not only one of Europe's oldest religions, a "faith" consoling many nice people to this day, it has outlived Christianity there. Now the failing Arab states embrace it too. Like other consoling faiths, it can't be destroyed by rational arguments like this essay, I'm sorry to say.

Do you know who I am?

I don´t know about you, but I am blessed with 20/20 hindsight. I can always see what could have been done better, after the fact of course.

However, just so there can be no doubt, let me put a few personal views out there.

1) Global Warming is a crock (I´ll let you decide what of) - maybe the earth is warming, maybe it isn´t, but I am extremely sceptical that atmospheric carbon dioxide (or if you prefer - carbon pollution) is the problem

2) Iraq was the right war to fight, we were justified in doing so and the only difference is that Australia should have done more. We should also be doing a lot more in Afghanistan.

3) The response to the global financial crisis, especially in the US and Australia, is stupid and irresponsible. We are rewarding people who fucked up by letting them continue to do the things they did before, giving them lots of government money and creating lots of debt for my and younger generations to pay off.

4) Kevin Rudd is a terrible Prime Minister, right up there with Gough and Malcom Fraser. Let me clarify. A TERRIBLE Prime Minister.

5) Obama is no great shakes as President, in fact he might even be a terrible President. He´s certainly no where near as good as George Bush (for all his failings). Trying to recreate a European welfare state in the US, after such a policy has obviously failed miserably and continues to fail in Europe seems to me to be nothing short of ideologically blinded stupidity.

And, if you´re still reading, here´s a link to a fantastic article in the Australian today, explaining in much clearer terms than I can manage why huge deficits and overspending are the wrong responses to the current financial problems.

cheers

Harry

don´t mock the power of the goat...

This may come as news to some people, but apparently John Howard is still running Australia.  Obviously he doesn´t have his actual ¨hands on the wheel¨ so to speak, but still, his ominous presence hovers menacingly above us all, kind of like the dead King in Macbeth.

Or at least that´s what Wayne Swan wants us to believe.  

Budget blowout is John Howard's fault - Wayne Swan   is the headline in the Herald Sun.  Apparently the Liberals relied upon the continuance of the mining boom so much that they overspent and now that the mining boom has ended we´ve gone from being in budget surplus to being in deficit.  $60 billion in deficit according to leaks which may or may not be accurate and probably $200 billion in deficit over the next couple of years.

But even though the Ruddster has been around for a while this massive problem is still Howard´s fault.  No mention of money given to people to spend on booze or pokies, or to insulate their ceilings or buy more holdens.  No mention of the idea of maybe sacking a few public servants.  No the Labor Government has been condemned by circumstance outside their control.  Hardly seems fair that we´re actually paying them if they can´t do anything does it?

cheers

Harry

Do what I say, don´t do what I do...

What is bipartisanship?  I would have imagined that if someone was talking about trying to take a ¨bipartisan¨approach to politics, it would involve the different sides putting forward their opinions and coming up with some kind of consensus solution, an outcome that isn´t the first choice but is accepted by all.

Apparently that´s just crazy talk Dr Harry!

How about this little gem from Yahoo News.  It has a segment on some of Obama´s campaign promises and then looks at how well he has succeeded.  The intro is this:

CANDIDATE OBAMA ON BIPARTISANSHIP – “I don’t want to pit Red America against Blue America. I want to be President of the United States of America.”

And the assessment on how well he went is this:

PRESIDENT OBAMA ON BIPARTISANSHIP – He has made gestures to his Republican colleagues on Capitol Hill and has invited them into his administration. But turning politics into a less divisive, less partisan affair has proved difficult. Only three Republicans voted for Obama’s stimulus legislation in February.

Now I might be wrong here, but from memory the stimulus bill was some 1000 pages long and members of the two houses were given less than a day to read it?  So the fact that any Republicans at all voted for the bill is a wonder, not a mystery.

Yahoo are shamelessly attacking the Republicans and cheering for Obama over his efforts to be bipartisan, but the basic truth is that Obama has negotiated nothing at all.  He has asked for his programs to be supported but he hasn´t asked for input or held negotiations so that the other side can put forward their point of view.

With a Pauline Hanson voice..... ¨Shame Yahoo, shame on you!¨ (and Barry for that matter).

cheers

Harry

Here´s something a bit more interesting to look at!

who will survive the bloody carnage of this particular war?

Apparently we now have a swimsuit war.  Who knew?

Bohl has recently returned from Europe where he witnessed the hysteria that has grown there with the emergence of a new player in the market, the Italian-designed polyurethane Jaked suit, which has sparked a flurry of world records. 

"If the Jaked is allowed for the world titles every world record will be broken. And I'm not sure that our kids will have access to it (the suit)," Bohl said.

I think the concept is ridiculous.  I propose that all swimmers in all meets should swim in nothing more than budgie smugglers (guys) and minimal one pieces (girls).  I´d be happy with bikinis as well.  The sport is called SWIMMING not SWIMWEAR DESIGNING.

I wholeheartedly believe in the advancement of science and technology and think these new innovations are fantastic, I just don´t believe that they have a place in a sport where an athlete can win or lose depending on which company´s swim suit they wear.

To be an aborigine or not to be an aborigine? That is the question...

So it seems that someone has finally kicked up a stink about the Tasmanian Government and how they define aboriginality.

For those who don´t know, Michael Mansell and all his white friends at the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre are aboriginal, because they share a half dozen surnames of families that emerged from the sealing communities in Bass Strait.  All the other white people who aren´t friends with Michael DON¨T get to play aborigines and have to do their own thing.

Opening lines of the article:

Alan Wolf was an ATSIC regional councillor for six years and is currently a board member of federal Aboriginal languages body, Federation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages.  However, the State Office of Aboriginal Affairs (OOA) has denied Mr Wolf indigenous fishing rights on the grounds he is not an Aborigine. 

Mr Wolf is one of 440 people regarded as Aborigines by the Federal Government and federal courts, but not by the Tasmanian Government for the purpose of state programs. 

The State applies the same Aboriginality test as the Commonwealth but differently, making it harder for people without links to certain families and archival evidence to prove their ancestry.

What does all this mean?  Besides the good news that Michael Mansell and his white friends at the TAC will finally have to let other people play in their little ¨club¨ besides themselves?

Well the key part for me of all this is the concept of  ¨indigenous fishing rights¨.  Now in the Northern Territory that means that aborigines are able to kill turtles and dugongs (even when they´re severely endangered).  In Canada that means that the Inuit are able to kill bears and seals and whales (little ones) and baby fur seals.

What does this mean in Tasmania?  I don´t really have any idea, but I´m guessing it means much greater access to abalone and rock lobster fisheries, maybe to kill seals as well, although I haven´t heard of this actually happening.  And what do I think about the whole situation?

Well I´ve actually got no problem with it at all.  I think the Tasmanian aboriginal community should be allowed to access as much traditional lifestyle opportunities (whether fishing or hunting) as they want.

BUT

They should have to exercise their traditional fishing rights in their traditional manner.  No wetsuits, no masks, no snorkels, no scuba, no nets, no outboard motors, no rifles.

Go smother yourself in seal fat and go diving for abalone.  Or do the same thing as you swim out to sneak up on a seal lying in the sun and beat it´s head in with a club.  I´m cool with that.  

Just don´t use all the advantages of modern technology and then claim you´re exercising your indigenous rights, while fishing out of season, in protected areas or with fish that aren´t size.

cheers

Harry

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