Resistance is Phutile

Emperor Benedict.

I just couldn't resist this.

posted by Phu @ 3:57 pm 1 comments

If this is you in a good mood...

"In speaking to the people, my message is this: 'You know, we're not going to tell you how to live your life, but we would like you to be free'"

Does Bush honestly believe that ordinary Iranians are going to swallow that? You can be free, so long as you do what we tell you (even though we don't want to tell you what to do).

"But to the government, our message is that if you want to be a part of the family of nations, give up your nuclear weapons ambitions."

Straightforward enough, and I'm not here to argue whether we should sit back and watch Iran develop nuclear weapons, but If I was a member of the Iranian government my reply would be "I don't want to join a family if it means playing the role of the infant, obeying you the father.

Regardless, the path to hostility is unfolding at an ever increasing rate. In response to the decision to refer Iran to the Security Council, chief Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani has warned of an "end to diplomacy". Well, if the recent mood between Iran and the West has been one of diplomacy, I dread to think what's in store.

posted by Phu @ 3:32 pm 0 comments

Police justice.

The leaked IPCC report finds that the Special Branch covered its tracks, doctoring a logbook in which one of the SB surveillance officers is recorded to have wrongly identified de Menezes as Hussein Osman, suspected would-be suicide bomber.

The fact the IPCC report was leaked is not to be scoffed at. I had intended to hop on the bus to Stockwell last Sunday and show support for the family of de Menezes in their calls for the report to be made public; my plans being foiled by a cowboy gas man. The Special Branch's underhand tactics have thankfully been exposed.

But what now, one wonders. What sort of punishment awaits those who left their Firearms wielding police brethren to take the flack in order to save their own skins?
(No honour among thief-takers either, then.)

Apparently all the Special Branch officers on duty that day deny all involvement or knowledge of the incident. In that case, arrest them all for withholding knowledge and perverting the course of justice.

And what of the efforts to confront de Menezes before he "ran" (walked) into the station? There are so many unanswered questions, the IPCC report just doesn't seem to have gone far enough.

Compare this indifference with the absolute disgust the murder of pc Beshenivsky was met with by the force. It reeks of self-serving, unjust contempt for the people the service is meant to protect.

posted by Phu @ 1:23 pm 0 comments

If only...

Apparently, I'm a pretty exciting kinda guy.

I'm a Honda S2000!

You live on the edge, and you live for the adrenaline rush. You don't need luxuries, snob appeal, or superfluous gadgets. You put your top down, get your motor revving, and take all the curves that life throws at you at full speed. So what if you spin out occasionally?

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Shame it seems less action-packed in reality.

Cheers Scribbles, who came across the wonder that is the sports car personality test via Normblog.

posted by Phu @ 12:20 pm 0 comments

Google: The fallen hero.

So was anyone really all that surprised by Google's decision to play by the rules in China and set up shop there? The official spiel of course was hollow, presumably mumbled out by some snivelling little creep while he looked down at his own feet. Something about not delivering a service to the people at all being an even bigger sin than offering a censored service. Let's face it, the big businesses that drive capitalism are not soldiers prepared to die for the cause, they are big businesses prepared to stay rich by any means possible. Attributing values of free democracy to the capitalism it spawns is misguided.

A good businessman will sell his gran for the right price.

Symbolically, Google's capitulation to the dark side of the force might serve as an unhappy reminder for some that our society is one of moral under profit.

But I just don't know how long they were expected to stay away from the huge, money breathing dragon that China is becoming.

posted by Phu @ 2:29 pm 0 comments

The last place you'd expect to see it.

Really had to look twice at Simon Tisdall's choice of wording in his "World briefing" piece in today's Guardian:

posted by Phu @ 11:26 am 0 comments

Still snowed under.

Unfortunately, the vast amounts of work I have to complete are stopping me from devoting any time to anything else. This is the first time I've even been on a computer since Christmas, and I had promised myself I wouldn't spend the time blogging when I'm supposed to be picking apart the ins and outs of online media discussions.

Still though, the case of Helene Castel had me feeling compelled to write something. Jon Henley had an easy day of it. To paint a romanticised portrait of the young Parisian idealist, daughter to "intellectual" parents, who went on to raid a bank, and escape the shootout through a back alley, before moving to a new life in Mexico was never going to be that challenging, really.

But what was it this story actually made me want to write?

To question the value of sentencing this woman so long after the crime? No.

To mock the lilly-livered liberals who would do the above, arguing we should all pay for our crimes? Not that either.

It's just a damn good story, I think it made me wanna write a plotline.

posted by Phu @ 2:21 pm 0 comments