/ 11 December 2003

There goes the neighbourhood on the Net

Let’s combine politics and photography in a way you may not have seen before. During Stalin’s reign of terror in Russia, every time he had an official killed, the dead or jailed person’s face had to be removed from photographs and paintings. That’s the background – now go have a thoughtful look through Photographs Can Lie – The Commissar Vanishes

Some of the more cultured readers will know of the cool musician and pretty darn fine writer Kinky Friedman. (He and his band The Texas Jewboys are responsible for tasteful modern classic songs like They Don’t Make Jews Like Jesus Anymore and Get Your Biscuits in the Oven and Your Buns In The Bed) Anyway, point being – Kinky is running for Governor of Texas! Yeeehaw! But the part that tickles my funnybone is his campaign slogan, “Why the Hell Not?” It works for me. I’d vote for him. Read the info and links to news reports at Kinky Friedman For Texas Governor

There’s a rather cheesy anti-Mugabe protest song available for download. It’s small (around 670k) but what the heck, it’s anti-Mugabe, it’s home made, and locally there’s little or no protest music anymore. (Unsurprising, as this requires both an IQ and some political awareness on the part of musicians to create.) The song’s not great, but grab it anyway at Anti Mugabe Song.

If you have a perverse sense of humor like me, then you’ll enjoy the bone-crunching, escalating Mac Rage incident (reported in the Houston Chronicle) as Woman Gets 10 Years For Running Over Mcdonald’s Manager.

Watching the lemmings stagger through the malls trying to buy third-rate products, driven on by the incessant yammering of rubbishy adverts telling the mob that it’s ‘Christmas’ and thus a time for naked consumerism to come out of the closet. Christmas isn’t about families, giving, togetherness – it’s just about making you spend money. That’s all. Almost every business and person that tries to tell you otherwise has something to sell you, couched and veiled in the illusion of a Norman Rockwell painting image of a Christmas that never existed. That reality check over with, do yourself a favor and read The Church of No Shopping.

Gear change. A man in the UK decided to investigate whether or not women have a point when they complain about the pain and suffering of beauty and body care. So, for no particular reason, the intrepid investigator went to the small town of Shirley in Southhampton, and took pictures and recorded his feelings as he got a leg waxed. (And you thought this column didn’t address the real issues!) Go stare at A Leg Wax in Shirley.

Stupid flash time. Having seen Kill Bill Volume One a while back, courtesy of the friendly DVD pirates at local fleamarkets, I got the decapitation joke, but take a look at what happens when swords, Flash animation and Bill Gates collide at Kill Bill Gates.

There have been ominous signs of what the Bush Administration might be up to next to secure the 2004 US elections. At least three different mainstream articles have floated the idea of a massive ‘terrorist’ attack within the US being the justifiable method for dismantling the US Constitution and installing a military government. Read the article, and consider the examples of ‘terrorism’ being used to install dictatorships — which might make you wonder who was really behind the ‘right wing bombings’ we had here, prior to the ’94 elections. Read Terrorism and the 2004 Elections.

You often hear me referring to the outright lies and rewriting of history that is occurring on the global political stage. Here’s a very simple example. You know, I assume, that no weapons of mass destruction were ever found in Iraq, right? Well, this hasn’t stopped Bush from announcing at a recent fundraiser that he’s managed to eliminate them. Look at the second paragraph in this Associated Press report, where it’s quietly mentioned that Bush is listing “eliminating … weapons of mass destruction from Iraq” as one of his accomplishments. Rewritten History AP Report.

Speaking of Iraq, it’s always good to hear things from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. So hear a different point of view in this Interview With Iraqi Resistance Leader.

More news you won’t see being covered: In Canada, an attorney managing a number of ‘national security’ cases and defending individuals on terrorism charges has given up those cases because of death threats originating from ‘U.S. or Canadian intelligence agencies’. Attorney Death Threats.

Did you know that in the USA, asking a shop for the country of origin of a product can now get you fined and reported to Homeland Security? More evidence that the anti-Zionist ‘conspiracy’ types may have a point, read Asking Forbidden Questions In America.

Then you always hear about the concept of ‘Death Squads’. But just to show you how your perception of reality has been tweaked in the media so that you aren’t seeing the obvious, read this insightful article on US Assassination Squads.

Something to read and save to your PC in your ‘useful news articles’ section, is the fascinating look at the blatant in-your-face lies and manipulation of facts as the Bush Administration tries to avoid facing up to charges of being single-handedly responsible and guilty of the atrocities of 911. Read The Historical Whitewash of 911.

Follow the links inside this next site, and discover a glimpse of the real face of political reality, at Government Mind Control.

Then … and it’s wildly tasteless, revolting, probably untrue but these reactions all make it wonderfully irresistible … make sure you’re not eating anything, and kids don’t try this at home. Have a read through Diary of a Do It Yourself Circumcision.

One of the reasons I really enjoy parts of Brit culture is their ability to be utterly irreverent about themselves and their cities. You don’t see Seff Effrikins ever taking the mickey out of themselves. (And no, Leon Schuster doesn’t count – future sociologists will be staring in amazement at his weirdly homo-erotic adults-dressed-as-schoolboys-being-caned music videos, for instance, for generations to come.) I’m talking about a general attitude amongst the population of realizing how crap they and their cities are. Take Birmingham in the UK, for example. For a while now there’s been a campaign under way, complete with calendars and posters to publicize a simple fact about their town. Go have a look at the campaign called Birmingham – It’s Not Shit .

Finally, stuff to download and listen to. First off, there’s a collection of audio clips of sounds recorded by various spacecraft at Space Audio. Next, out of the top five late night talk shows in America, at least two of the five hosts deal with conspiracy, paranormal, breaking news and various cutting edge subjects.

Art Bell and Jeff Rense. Despite having pitched myself at various local radio stations to do a similar show locally, late night, all seem too scared or simply too unimaginative to ‘get’ the concept. (Yes I’m hinting. If you own a radio station, make contact). Anyway, to listen to one of the most informative radio shows you’ll ever hear, go browse and download episodes at The Jeff Rense Show Archives.

Until the next time, if Christmas fans don’t get me