Angry Rant #25: It's pronounced "Nu-cle-ar"

Looks like the Pacific Plate's been having a bit of a party in recent months.

And everyone's invited.

Most recently is the earthquake/tsunami combo that's hit Japan's east coast pretty hard. I'm not all for guess-tamations, but to say that at least 12,000 people would have died would be pretty accurate. That's 12,000 from the earthquake and the tsunami alone - compared to the 1 death that was caused by one of the nuclear power plants exploding.

Where were you this time buddy?

But it seems that the nuclear angle is the ONLY angle when it comes to Japan - never mind the thousands of people trapped under 10m of mud and water from the 9.1 magnitude earthquake - we should all be scared of the impending nuclear meltdown in Japan.

...because shit will hit this puppy.

The push by the media to create this fear-mongering has allowed a bunch of anti-nuclear protesters to grab this story by the nuts as a massive 'I told you so'.

"I told you maaaan. Nuclear ain't the way to go!!!" - Conservative hippy

I did some calculations on the numbers I mentioned earlier, and I've come to the conclusion that the earthquake/tsunami combo is far more life-threatening than any nuclear outbreak by a factor of about...

12,000 to 1

So when I hear about the supposed trajectory of these radioactive clouds, and fires, and stories of "Modern-day Samurais", I  try to think why our good ol' buddies in the media are doing this for.

 And then it hit me...

Pictured from Right to Left: Douchebags. 

It seems to me that the media is treating every crisis like an episode of the Jersey Shore - that being it's the same repetitive stuff over and over again until they find something that they can flesh out for three episodes. So if there's a new angle then they'll latch on it faster than Donkey did with Shrek. Then of course is all the advertising and marketing organisations who are trying to get a piece of the action.

Of course this entirely my opinion, and for me, the media has cried wolf one too many times.

Don't believe the lies and spin.

Angry Rant #23: It can only go up from here!

So apparently all throughout the Middle-East shit is happening - but we're talking about here is the good sort of shit. The kind where the people rise up against the powers that be and stand up for what they believe in. Now since Gaddaffi bombed his own people in Tripoli, western societies have pulled their heads out of the sand and all of the sudden things look serious - not because of the fact that the Libyan Leader is killing people in his own country, but because oil prices will rise (this is a bad thing for any country that runs on fossil fuels *cough* the US *cough*).

"Wait, what's going on?"

What happens in Libya is going to be a little snap shot of what could happen if another uprising occurs in Saudi Arabia - a single disturbance there could destabilize western economies faster than you can say "Fuck. I need petrol!". This comes down to one thing and one thing only - fear. And not you're regular "I'm scared of anyone wearing a burqa" fear, but the fear of not being able to support an economy. But here's a thought - what happens if things do get bad in Saudi Arabia (i.e. the people stand up against their totalitarian governments and religiously motivated dictators?)

This might be getting a bit too symbolic...

It almost seems to me as if that these supposed "world powers" are actually supporting these regimes because they inactively maintain the status-quo. I keep seeing the same contradiction over and over again - up front we support what the people in the Middle-East are doing but the heads of our countries won't do anything because they are aware of the consequences that it will have on the petrol/gas economy.

Enough said.

Now you'd think that something as important as this would make headlines everynight - but you know why it isn't? We are being forced into a false sense of security - fossil fuels are non-renewable. One day we will eventually run out, but no - we are too busy getting mouth fulls of some idiotic footy player punching some other idiot and some  girl who sucks CEOs off for money then rats them out!!

Jack doesn't like rats either.

Honestly, where the hell is the journalism industry headed? Why do world super powers only care about their own arse? Why was Hayden Christensen chosen to play anakin in the Star Wars prequels??

"I can't act - you know it, I know it..and even my cat does, but fuck me, I love the money!"

Take it as you will.

Don't believe the Lies and Spin

Angry Rant #22: We want Democracy?

I've been following the uprising in the Arab world closely - some of stories behind the militant leaders that are in charge are eerily disturbing. It almost makes me wonder why the people haven't revolted sooner...or why world "super" powers like the U.S. haven't jumped in to save the day like they always do (there's no oil - Egypt is run on tourism!)

Cynical to the MAX!

But I have been seeing a recurring theme - one that is not so much wrong, but spoken without much thought. Now I have to preface this by saying that I am all for Democracy - when it does work the way it should, that is, run by the people, it works in fair manner. But after the recent barrage of Wikileaks, my idea of Democracy is somewhat diminished.

So when I see a screaming protester in Libya shouting that they want Democracy, written on a sign in plain English, I can't help but think to myself what form of Democracy do the want? Do they want a their own version of Democracy or are they looking to just copy a Western version..

Oh ok, makes sense.

When we hear stories about the International Monetary Fund and the reasoning behind why it lends money to poorer countries, I can't help but wonder if their idea of "democracy" is somewhat misplaced. Now of course, ANYTHING is better than the current situation, and we should be lucky to not have militant leaders who call in fighter jets to bomb protesters, but after hearing some of the stories that have been revealed by the whole Wikileaks saga, it makes me really wonder as to whether or not Democracy could actually work in the Middle-East. And what about UN intervention? What about the ability of one of the five world "super powers" (So the U.S, U.K,  France, Russia, China) being able to veto anything they like (or anything that's not in the best interests for them)

For Example - If a decision was put forward by say...a new Democratic Party in Libya to the UN that involved say...oil...

Libya - Know for the largest oil reserves in Africa and this. 

...and they were to make some trade deal with Western countries because the Democratic Government would most certainly be Western based, the IMF (who'll most likely lend the new Government money) and the UN could essentially force the new Government to sell that oil to our Favourite Five for half the cost, but in return provide "support", just so some fat cat in Washington can fill this puppy up -

$$$$$$$$$$$

What's been going on in these countries of the past few decades has been wrong. It's been disturbing, it's damn right disgusting to think that no western country would ever intervene and give the people in these countries where they know that murdering those who revolt is just an every day practice, is sickening. Do they not find a "leader" who hires mercenaries to kill the people in his country wrong? Or does no one at all care about what goes on in Africa?

But hey, maybe these people will it get right.

Don't believe the Lies and Spin.