Man's Stupidity To Man

Conditions: Cold, Shitty

Uncaring

Why does this keep happening? In the Afghani-Pakistani border region this week, apparently operators of the American airborne hunter killers spotted what they believed were some high-priority terrorist targets driving along in a car, so they shot off a bunch of missiles at the car, missed and blew up a nearby tribal meeting, killing 40 people.

At least four militants in the vehicles were killed, local officials said. Most of the rest who died were elders, local traders and members of the tribal police.

"The world should try and find out how many of the 40-odd people killed in the drone attack were members of al-Qaeda," the elders said in their statement following the attack near North Waziristan's regional capital, Miranshah.

"It was just a jirga being held under local customs in which the prominent elders of Datta Khel sub-division, and common people were participating to resolve a dispute.

"But the Americans did not spare our elders even.

One of the elders, Malik Faridullah Wazir Khan, said he reached the scene 30 minutes after the missiles hit - four of his relatives were killed.

"The area was completely covered in blood," he told the BBC.

"There were no bodies, only body parts - hands, legs and eyes scattered around. I could not recognise anyone. People carried away the body parts in shopping bags and clothing or with bits of wood, whatever they could find."

He said 44 people died at the scene, including 13 children - one as young as seven.

- bbc.co.uk/

Of course this isn't the first time this has happened, it's not even the tenth. And yet despite that, nothing continues to be done about this. Quite the opposite, in fact as the ex-head of the CIA claims the war is being won thanks to the hunter killer units.

Former CIA director, Gen Michael Hayden, could not sing their praises loudly enough - although ironically the word "drone" cannot pass his lips, so sensitive and allegedly secret is the CIA's programme of targeted killings. How can a programme be secret when its results are plain for all to see?

Former director of the CIA Gen Michael Hayden Gen Hayden said the use of drones was an "inherent right" Gen Michael Hayden believed the results had been spectacular.

"A significant fraction of al-Qaeda senior leadership in the tribal region has been 'taken off the battlefield'," he said. "That used to mean 'killed or captured'. In the last couple of years it simply means killed. We just aren't doing any capturing."

Ironically the CIA's drone programme was greatly accelerated under President Obama who has authorised more than 160 Predator missions - four times as many as his predecessor, President George W Bush, targeting not just al-Qaeda but Taliban leaders also hiding in the border areas.

It remains unbelievable to me that in this day and age the American military operates a remote robot-driven assassination squad over a foreign country, totally out in the open and endorsed by the President, and nobody cares. And they say racism is dead.

Gen Hayden denied the attacks were state-authorised assassinations. He said the US was at war with al-Qaeda and the Taliban, and was simply acting in self-defence. When I pointed out that legally the war was in Afghanistan not Pakistan, he said that was not how the American administration looked at it.

"No they're not assassinations. This is a war, this is action against opposing armed enemy force. This is an inherent right of America to self-defence.

Self Defense. See, this is the madness to which people have been driven in their fear. Apparently, in self defense it's okay to commit war crimes and lash out blindly at whoever you think is a threat. And if you happen to kill civilians or terrorist operatives, it doesn't matter because nobody ever goes and checks the bodies anyway.

Hundreds of civilians have been killed in the attacks, although it is impossible to put a precise figure on the number of innocent victims. It is estimated by the New America Foundation that between 2004 and 2010 they may represent around 25% of those killed.

Human rights lawyers on both sides of the Atlantic have grown increasingly concerned about the US government appearing to act as judge, jury and executioner. Jameel Jaffer of the American Council for Civil Liberties said: "This is quite an awesome power, the power to label somebody as an enemy [then] wipe them out without judicial process of any kind."

- bbc.co.uk/

This is never going to work. It's never going to get anywhere. And since America will not spend the billions to occupy the region, the only way America can win this war is by eventually negotiating a treaty with the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Therefore randomly blowing up people with drones is only making things worse. How long must we wait for common sense?


Film Review: The Adjustment Bureau

Yet another adaptation of a Phillip K Dick short story, the Adjustment Bureau stars Matt Damon and Emily Blunt and tells the story of an aspiring politician who meets a dancer, falls in love, and then is told by suit-wearing angels that he can never seen her again. The angels, though they hate that name, work for the "Chairman" upstairs, and wear hats that allow them to use ordinary doors to travel around cities very quickly, and carry books that map out peoples lives and the decisions they make. When a person is about to make a choice that doesn't fit with the "plan", the angels have to find a way to stop it. From spilling someones coffee so they miss a bus, to freezing time and wielding some kind of device that changes the thoughts in someones head.

Obviously we humans never see any of this, but when Matt Damon "accidentally" bumps into Emily Blunt again, this time on the bus, the angels are forced to reveal themselves to him and warn him to never see her again, because the two of them together is not in the plan. But the heart wants what the heart wants, and Matt is determined to find her once more. This film poses some interesting questions about fate and will, all woven into a quite believable romance between Matt and Emily. Their chemistry together is basically what sells the film, and it wouldn't have worked without them clicking so well.

With the help of one of the angels, Matt battles to find Emily again and change his fate. It's actually quite an enjoyable film, kind of old fashioned but a nice kind of old fashioned. Stylish rather than stuffy. You find yourself rooting for these characters and hoping for some kind of happy ending. And of course there is one on offer, but after two hours of discussions about the plan, and how humans can't have free will after you see what we do with it. an ending that essentially goes against all that tends to jar a little bit. When you set up rules in a movie, and then break them at the end in order to have a happy ending the audience may smile, but there is the sense that the film cheated a little bit to get there. Three hats out of Five.


- Peace out

The Reckoning

Conditions: Bloody Awful


Riding The Bomb.

Reaction to the nuclear disaster in Japan has been quick and, I fear, somewhat knee-jerky. Horror of a nuclear meltdown in the face of earthquake and tsunami has lead quickly to a shutdown of both proposed new nuclear power stations in other countries, and promises to "review" the existing ones.

Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel reacted to the disaster. All nuclear power plants in Germany would be inspected and seven of them were temporarily switched off. Stefan Mappus reacted via a press release in which he stated for the record, "Considering the events in Japan, the Federal government's decision to discontinue the prolongation of the life spans of nuclear power plants is forceful, courageous and correct." It is a late insight, for the state parliamentary election is imminent. The voters doubt the credibility of the minister president.

It was a major coincidence that a large demonstration against nuclear power was held in Baden-Württemberg of all places. The 45km-long human chain that ranged from Neckarwestheim to Stuttgart was certainly symbolic. And a lot more protests are going on in cities like Berlin. Over 100,000 people protested against nuclear power. And everyone wears yellow buttons with the slogan "nuclear power – no thanks".

- timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Now I realise the specter of an earthquake prompting a Chernobyl-style meltdown is unpleasant, but frankly the human race has got to be realistic about this. And realistically our hustling bustling energy-burning civilization is simply not sustainable on wind power or water power alone. And burning coal has been judged to be poisoning the atmosphere. Nuclear power provides a pretty great option. What is required now is not an overly-reactive withdrawal from nuclear power but a more careful consideration of how we manage it. With care, this system can work safely. Unfortunately, to be truly safe a lot of work and money is going to need to be spent.

Many Californians sought assurances that radiation escaping the Japanese reactors would not reach across the Pacific to contaminate the west coast, while experts totted up the number of US nuclear facilities on - or near - major fault lines where "worst-case'' fears mirror events unfolding in Japan.

Unsurprisingly, of the 65 reactors that fell into that category, California's San Onofre plant, 70 kilometres south-east of Long Beach, and the facility at Diablo Canyon, 100 kilometres north of Santa Barbara, were prominent, both resting on the fault-laden Pacific coast.

Both 1980s-era constructions, the plants are located within reach of significant populations. More than 9 million people live within 80 kilometres of the former, a distance noted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as particularly vulnerable in the event of mishap.

- smh.com.au/

Of course the closer the plant is to the people then the less loss you have in transmission of the power, so some better choices are going to need to be made for these locations where the cities are on active earthquake zones. Also, the plants themselves can and have been built much safer:

The fires at Fukushima have also triggered serious criticism of the plant's design. The decision to place storage tanks close to reactors has been pinpointed as a key design error. When those reactors caught fire, they quickly triggered reactions in the storage tanks which themselves caught fire, and so the fires spread.
[...]

However, Sherry defended the ageing plant – whose six reactors came on line between 1970 and 1979. "These reactors were designed in the 1960s and we have learned a lot since then. Modern plants are much safer. Think of cars in the 1960s: they didn't have crumple zones, airbags or seat belts – features we all take for granted today. It is the same with nuclear reactor design."

The Fukushima reactors, known as boiling water reactors, have active safety features – you have to do something to prevent dangerous heating, such as ensuring that the pumps are activated.

"By contrast, new reactors are designed to include 'passive' safety systems that are designed to shut down and cool fuel without the need for power being available at the plant," said Barry Marsden, professor of nuclear graphite technology at Manchester University. Modern reactors also have double or triple back-up safety systems.

- guardian.co.uk/

It seems to me that we're seeing more than a dangerous outcome of a powerful technology not under full control. We're also seeing the wielding of that power change for the better, as more and more world leaders react to the fear caused by the terrible pictures coming out of Japan. And ultimately that could be a good thing. We can't go back, but we can better appreciate what is required to continue going forward.



Film Review: White Out

Ah, thriller movies. A good thriller is like chocolate. It's bad for you in the long run, but it's oh so good in small doses. White Out is a thriller set in Antarctica, where Kate Beckinsale is the lone US Marshal at the main American scientific base. And she's got a problem because there's a killer on the loose, murdering a couple of archeologists and trying to kill her with an ice axe when she tries to investigate. Gradually the plot reveals how it's tied in to a Russian military aircraft that crashed in Antarctica 50 years earlier, and what was on it, and exactly who is involved in the killings, and why.

In reality, the fact that this film is set in Antarctica is really the only thing that sets it apart from other films. Kate does her best with the role, and Tom Skerrit is there to provide some support, but really it's all fairly standard thriller fare. You've got the time pressure provided by a big storm bearing down on the base, and a small cast of characters from whence you must figure out who is the guilty party, and a sense of claustrophobia coming from the Base Camp's narrow corridors and small rooms.

At least the film is shot fairly well, with attention paid to atmosphere and cinematography. And the lead character is given something of a back story to fully explain why she's there. Of course there's a twist, but unfortunately it's a twist that can be guessed at fairly early on in proceedings. Ultimately the film is a reasonably simple thriller film, just set in Antarctica. Two and a half fingers out of five.



- Peace out

Wall To Wall

Conditions: Shaken to the bone.


Dark Days

Hearts and thoughts go out to the Japanese and the Kiwis struggling in the aftermath of Earth's destructive fury. Hang in there.



Film Review: The Fourth Kind.

The Fourth Kind is decidedly not your average kind of thriller. Your first clue comes right at the start where the lead actress comes out and tells you that this isn't your average kind of thriller, that it's based on real events. The second clue comes around the point where the screen splits in two and the exact same scene is played out on both the left and the right hand side. The difference is that on the one side are the actors in the film, and on the other side is apparently the actual footage that was taken when it actually happened. This is a new idea, to me at least, and at first I found it distracting. But when the film kicks into gear you quickly realise why they have done it in this way, because frankly if they had not then the default reaction to what we see is to totally disbelieve it.

Easily one of the most scary films I have ever seen, the Fourth Kind is a thriller based on a true story about a small, quiet remote town in Alaska where it turns out the residents are getting abducted by aliens, who then don't do quite as good a job erasing memories of the abduction as one would have hoped. I feel odd calling it a film, though. It has actors, and it certainly is dramatic, but it really comes across as more of a documentary than anything else. Which only serves to make it way more frightening than if it had been shot as a straight-up film. There isn't really an ending, either, no way of finishing the story. Milla Jovovich plays Dr Abbey, a psychiatrist who's husband has been recently murdered. On top of that, suddenly her patients are telling her they can't sleep at night, that they're getting woken up at three in the morning by an owl. An owl outside the window, an owl that is then inside the house, an owl that is standing over them. And then it's not an owl.

One guy saying this can get laughed off, but three? To get to the bottom of it, Abbey puts one of these guys under hypnosis to relive the event. And basically that is where the shit hits the fan. The film rapidly escalates into a genuinely frightening investigation of who, or more appropriately what, is causing these perceived visitations. And the more they dig into this, principally using hypnosis to uncover the memories of what happened, the more violent and dangerous the reactions become. Abby ends up confronting her own demons, along with the entities who have terrorized the town. and the cost is terrible. I've always admired films that can scare you with ideas instead of resorting to blood and torture and cheap jumps, and this film is worthy of respect for how well it works.

However, there is a second part to this movie, and it begins once the credits roll, because some genuine questions have been raised, not least directly by the cast themselves who return at the end to tell you how real it all is, and to decide for yourself. Living as we do in the age of the Internet, it is not difficult to go online and start asking questions about this film, and to see what others had to say about it. Which is when you discover that the entire film is a total lie. Turns out nothing, no part of it was actually real and that the split screen stuff was just different actors and a more shaky 'realistic' camera. Reactions to this, as you can imagine, have been mostly scornful, which is likely a response people have after being scared. Like being angry at a flapping curtain you thought was a ghost. But apart from that, you have to give some credit to the director who has taken a somewhat scary idea and ramped up to 11 by fully playing up the whole "based on true event's" idea that other films have tried to use. All I know is, I was totally convinced at the time, and while disappointed to find out it wasn't real after all, I think I'm also a bit glad as well. Four Sumerian Gods out of Five.


- Peace out (if at all possible)