Politics: And Religion Mixed

How many times have we heard the expression "Religion and politics don't mix"? Unfortunately, over the centuries, they seem to have done little else.

From the ancient Hebrews, who saw no end to divine assistance in smiting their enemies, to the Roman gods of war who aided and abetted the formation of a world empire, from The Battle Hymn of the Republic to Onward Christian Soldiers, religion has often led the way into battle for us mere mortals.

The Iranians are also among those who would follow their religious leaders into war. Indeed, their religious leaders are also their political leaders, so they would have very little choice in the matter. Iran, during its' long war of attrition with Iraq, led the league in religious martyrs. Families proudly displayed the photos of their sons who had found their way into paradise at the behest of their mullahs. Instant paradise to martyrs is at the root of Islamic belief.

Like the Japanese during WWII, the Iranians are capable of, and quite willing to, ordering up large numbers of suicide bombers to inflict casualties upon their enemies. The mind boggles, and the knees tremble, at the insane and unthinkable possibilities that a war with Iran might bring. The threats that Al Qaeda pose to the west would amount to a hill of beans compared to the threats that Iran could bring to bear. Toppling a theocracy is not the same as toppling a despotic lout like Saddam. There is no real comparison between the two seemingly similar events.



George Bush (Dubya) also has a firm belief that God is amongst his most ardent supporters. He had been heard to admit, just prior to his first campaign, that he believed that God wanted him to be president. This should be taken in context though. America is a country where high-school basketball players pray before each game for God's help, and are quite convinced the God wanted them to win whenever they do. Born again Christians are ever ready to admit that God guides them in every aspect of their daily lives. This is also a very disturbing phenomena. People who believe that God is guiding their lives have a hard time believing that they can do any wrong. They are quite willing to say, in the face of any disaster, that any outcome is simply God's will. They are merely the tools of God.

There has to be a better way to live our lives and express our spirituality than allowing these nutters power and following them to our ultimate and inevitible doom.

Perhaps if we pray hard enough God will listen and lift from us this unacceptable and dangerous burden of religion. If we could only free ourselves of our obsession with the Afterlife, and concentrate on making our paradise here amongst the living.

Imagine there's no countries

It isn't hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too

Imagine all the people

Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will live as one

John Lennon

Politics: MAD? I hope so

One of the things about technology is that you cannot keep it a secret. Like fire, wheels, bows and arrows, lightbulbs, and automobiles, nuclear technology is impossible to keep secret. Long ago it was realized that any physics major in any university anywhere on earth could throw a nuke together. The problem was the laying their hands on the materials necessary. The fall of the old Soviet Union remedied that problem for a great many nuclear hopefuls. But, even before the fall of the USSR, a substantial quantity of fissionable material had gone missing, and a number of nations have developed nuclear weaponry. South Africa, Israel, Pakistan, and India have joined France, U.S.A., Britain, Russia, and China in stockpiling these kinds of weapons and the various methods of delivering them to their respective targets.

The one thing that all these nations had in common was fear. They all had something to lose and their enemies, or suspected enemies, were also racing for parity in arms. Given the events of recent years, and the clash of ideologies that inspired them, it should be no surprise that Iran has added its' name into the hat along with North Korea. This is a tragedy for the whole world and one that I am sure will never go away.

War is not the answer to a problem...it is the problem. Technology does not disappear into the ether. It is superseded by newer and more efficient technologies. The cold-war taught us the lesson that whoever is first to use nuclear weapons, despite destroying their enemies, will also be destroyed. Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) became the saving grace of the modern world. But will it save us again? I don't know.

My generation grew up in an atmosphere of impending doom. The end of the world was something we all suspected, and feared, that we would see. The present religious fascination and belief in Armageddon has, I believe, it's roots in the cold war. This is very dangerous indeed. I am a firm believer in self-fufilling prophesy and I am afraid that I see it all around me in modern geo-politics.

Oh, what did you see, my blue-eyed son?

Oh, what did you see, my darling young one?

I saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around it,

I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it,

I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin',

I saw a room full of men with their hammers a-bleedin',

I saw a white ladder all covered with water,

I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken,

I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children,

And it's a hard, and it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard,And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.

(Bob Dylan)

Politics: Warning against the BNP

Once upon a time, in a land not far away, there came to prominence a group of men called The British Union of Fascists. These men were devoted anti-semites and had a great admiration for the fascist leaders of other countries such as Hitler, Mussolini, and Franco. They had gathered quite a following among the working classes, although among the leaders were members of the British establishment. When WWII began these people found themselves supporting the wrong side and the government enacted laws to prevent their activities. Many of the leaders were promptly arrested and the BUF was disolved and its' publications banned.

They say that history repeats itself and I am convinced that it often does. This last week prominent figures from the UK's major political parties have warned of a new, but similar, threat to democracy in the UK. The British National Party. The BNP is not new to British politics. But, with the increase of immigration due to the expansion of the European Union, the unprecedented flow of refugees from poverty and war around the world, and the tragic events of September 11th, 2001 and the ensuing wars that were engendered, the BNP has found itself a new political base amongst the children and grandchildren of those that once followed the BUF all those years ago.

They have enlisted much support in those areas where large numbers of immigrants and refugees have gathered. There have been marches and protests for and against the BNP.


The picture here is of some supporters of the BNP. They were marching through a city with a large multi-ethnic population. They are very much opposed to living in a multi-cultural society.



This picture is of opponents to the BNP. Both pictures were taken on the same day in the same place. These people, a very mixed crowd, were protesting the BNP marching through their town.

The major political parties, especially those on the right wing of British politics, are warning that people may begin voting for the BNP in ever increasing numbers. This is not solely a British problem. France has a Front National which is also racist and anti-semitic, and Germany has the NDP.

You may ask why I am writing about these political monsters. Well lately I have had made some rather unfriendly comments about the influence of religion on world politics. Two religions in particular have come in for quite a bit of criticism: Christianity and Islam. Personaly I would like to see them get married and live happily ever after and have happy, fat little children. But, while I criticize their undue influence on current world events, I am not opposed to their existence or their devotees.

I am wholeheartedly opposed to fascism and racism and bigotry. I believe that the things that seperate us from one another are wrong. Nationalism has brought nothing but war to the world, indeed it is the underlying neccessity for war. Religion and politics have also contributed to the seemingly continuous state of war that the world is in.

I do not support the politics of seperation and I would not encourage others to do so. So I would just like to add my voice to those others who are opposed to the BNP.

Politics: Osama's back...just in time

Well good ol' Osama is back in the news. Just when Mr. Bush was at his lowest. His job ratings in the dirt and his pals all getting caught with their hands in the till, his Defense Secretary being exposed for the blinkered fool that he is and his policies exposed for their multi-trillion dollar give aways to his business cronies, Mr Bush has been saved by his old enemy...Osama.

Once again he can play the boogieman card and frighten the children into letting him get away with doing whatever he wants to whoever he wants anywhere that he wants.

Osama Bin Laden bails out Blair and Bush once again with another tape calling for a world war against the "Crusaders". Apparently Osama is angry that the western countries are no longer willing to support the Palastinian government by paying their bills. Now that Hamas has risen to real governing power in Palastine, while still clinging to the notion of waging war and destroying Israel, the west is no longer willing to subsidise the Palastinian state. Big surprise there. But Osama is upset about this. This isn't fair. So now he is calling for all Muslims to wage war against all non-muslims.

Logic really has little to do any of this. I used to think that the most upsetting thing about being mortal was not knowing what would happen next. Now, when I look to the future and try to foresee what will happen after I die, I can see very little that is interesting or new. I can see self-interest and bigotry running rampant across the globe. I can see greed and consumption as the driving forces of the future generations. I can see poverty and hunger and illness being ignored where there is no profit to be made. I can see wars never ending and the world in flames all in the name of ideologies that have lived past their time.

I think I'll get drunk...I think we all should.

Personal: Pancake Maker

The painting here is by an artist called Brouwer. He is one of those wonderful Dutch artists that I love. The picture is called "The Pancake Maker". This blog isn't about art...it is about cooking.

I like making breakfast. I make my own pancakes. Jane likes them with lemon juice and sugar, I like them with maple syrup. I also scramble a nice egg, cook some lovely streaky bacon, and heat up a mean Italian plum tomato. I like granery bread, toasted, with jam or marmalade. I dig it all with hot, rich, sweet coffee or a big mug of sugared tea (one teaspoon of sugar please).

But this blog isn't about breakfast either. It is about a recipe I learned while working nights in a big hotel. One of my duties was preparing light meals and snacks throughout the night. Room service with a smile. Anyway here is this recipe I learned and improved upon: It is called: Chicken, Bacon, and Avocado Salad

First I heat some vegetable or olive oil in a wok. Then I put in about two chicken breasts cut into large chunks. These cook until white through, and then I add about five rashers of bacon cut into one inch pieces. The meatier the bacon the better the result. These cook together until properly cooked. Then drain the excess liquids, and add two avocadoes cut into large pieces. Cook all three together until avocadoes are warm through.

Take a large bowl and fill with a variety of lettuce leaves, Not Iceburg.

Pour the cooked chicken, bacon, and avocado onto the bed of lettuces. Mix it all up. Then pour the special dressing over the lot and enjoy. This is a lovely starter or light meal.

The dressing I just love with this is made up of maple syrup and dijon mustard in a four to one ratio.

Try this out. It all takes about six minutes to make (not including the preparation). You'll love it.

Personal: Sunday Morning Miracle

The picture on the left is of the harbour in Folkestone. This blog isn't about Folkestone though...it is about escapism. I am sitting here at my computer in an attempt to escape Jane's Sunday morning television choices.

We were lying peacefully in bed (I brought her tea) and, because she is feeling a little under the weather, I surrendered complete control of the remote. Big mistake.

I ended up with the covers over my head and my hands over my ears, while Jane watched an hours worth of the "miracle" of childbirth. This thing was completely explicit, complications and all, and the things that went on were horrifying. All I could think of was the scene in Alien where poor John Hurt gave birth to the thing from outer space. This program even had C-sections (not a pretty sight) and all the screaming that you could hope for. Now I am not squeamish, although I did walk out of the cinema during the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but I don't see why anyone not studying medicine would want to watch this kind of thing.

So that is why I am looking at this picture of the harbour, but I am thinking of this one:

I know that it is all quite modern and healthy to "share" the birth experience. Men and women should be partners before, during, and after the blessed event. All my life I have lived with the disappointment of discovering that, one by one, all the wonderful stories I learned during childhood were just tender lies. Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny, The Tooth Fairy, St Christopher, Robin Hood, King Arthur, and many more all fell into the oblivion of falsehood. But please, please, please...can't I at least cling to the "Stork"?

Personal: Dopes

I know what all my friends in Dublin and the USA are thinking right now: Look...Dick Cheney is wearing Jane's T-shirt!!

Don't worry your little heads off though. This blog isn't going to be political, nor is it going to be an attack on organised religion.This blog is going to behave itself and concentrate on something entirely non contoversial...drugs.

I personaly don't see the problem with stepping out into the backyard and taking a few tokes off the old pipe. I find it relaxes me and helps me to ponder the little problems that life presents me with. Sometimes I like to take a little puff and think about...uuugh..what?...I forget what I was talking about...but you know what I mean.

And we all know that one joint can't do you any harm. Even most of today's politicians will admit to smoking a little pot in their wild and wooly younger days. Even George Bush smoked a little weed, snorted a little coke, drove around just a little drunk, and went on to become president and invade the worlds leading opium supplier...without impeding the flow of opium at all. And Tony Blair himself, a long-haired lefty pot smoker in his youth, went on to become prime-minister and joined George on his military adventure in the land of the poppy. I am not suggesting that these guys invaded Afghanistan for the dope...I think they did it because they are dopes.

So anyway, I don't want anyone to go out and start smoking weed and stuff just because the most powerful people on the planet did so. The are quite a few pot smokers out there who will probably never get the chance to launch an invasion of their own...they are too busy looking for their keys in the refridgerator or counting the M&M's to make sure they didn't get ripped off at the corner shop.


Tha's about it for today. I have to go and find my keys.