The weekend has landed

Before you know it the week is over.
Before i know it the week begins.
Saturday oh saturday,
The dance floor beckons.
Full of lights, sounds, actions.
So sad, it passes all too quick.
There simply is no time to think.
At least for me no monday meeting.
As they say, all glory's fleeting!

PS: my ass ain't at work on monday
- posted by syed-m @ 6:11 PM

 
Anzac Day

Yesterday the Channel Ten anchorman reported from Gallipoli in Turkey, the scene of one of Australia's most tragic military campaigns. "This here is sacred Australian soil" he reported. I wondered whether the Japanese considerd Darwin sacred soil. What about Warsaw to the Germans? Would there be an outcry if the Japanese had a memorial service for their brave pilots who fought and died in the skies and waters off Darwin? Probably would.

It is simply amazing that after so many years we still don't ask a simple question - what the fuck were Australians doing invading a country that was in no way a national security threat? This lack of critical discussion is reminiscent of the current 'debate' over the invasion of Iraq. Support the troops, if nothing else. Honour the heroism, if not the value of the Gallipoli campaign.

How many poets, lovers, doctors, fathers, friends did we lose at Gallipoli, throughout World War One, in all the countless, pointless military excursions humanity has conducted over the years?

Lest we forget - times haven't changed!
- posted by syed-m @ 6:45 PM

 
Sometimes you're humbled by insecurities, genius or even lust. Today it's because someone's being released whom I could never emmulate. Not because of his brilliance or anything like that, but because of his simple courage. I'm talking about Mordecai Vanunu, a rather brave dude who blew the whistle on Israel's nuclear arsenal. He's been languishing in prison for 18 years. 12 of those were in solitary confinement. Ask yourself what you were doing, how old you were, even 10 years ago. I can't seriously dream what his life must've been like. And yet, apparently, he has never once publicly regretted his decision to spill the beans on one of the biggest, most dangerous nuclear arsenals in the world.

It's easy to park my ample ass in this chair and bitch on a web log. So today's blog is dedicated to him. May [atheist equivalent of God for the purposes of a blessing] bless his soul! This one's for you baby!

Slippery the gaze,
of pillars and men.
Thrusting his image,
if not his face.
Though shrouded in chains,
The light still shines.
Bright is the message.
Thank you Vanunu.
- posted by syed-m @ 3:55 AM

 
Day 8 - 9/1/04

Interview with International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) legal officer Daoud Malik, ISLAMABAD.

ICRC began it's international humanitarian law 'sensitisation' process in 1999. It began by teaching courses in universities and other tertiary institutions. Since then it has been expanded to the armed forces (the current education officer is a former Australian Defence Force officer). Education programs have also been introduced for high ranking police officers.

Most interesting of all, they now teach international humanitarian law in madrassas or Islamic religious school. A bit of background would help perhaps...

International humanitarian law is the body of law that governs armed conflict, and the immediate consequences of armed conflict. Heard of the Geneva Conventions? That's a reference to one of the [number] of legal instruments created since the 1800s that attempt to regulate armed conflict between states.

Now, according to the ICRC in Pakistan, they have commissioned an Islamic scholar to try and bridge the gap between IHL and Islamic law, bascially see what similarities exist between the two.


- posted by syed-m @ 3:18 AM

 
Last night I went to Canberra's sole gay club. It was packed, hot and pumping out the awesome tracks. Although I had the unsavory experience of being manhandled in the pelvis region on around 6 occasions, it was great to hang out with one of my oldest friends whom I haven't seen for an eternity. She's going down to Melbourne for the foreseeable future. Good luck sista!

Whilst bopping on the dance floor, it occurred to me that it's been some time since I released my current top ten. So here it goes, enjoy!

1. Underworld (Paul Oakenfold) - one of those very unassuming, simple songs that somehow works its way into your musical memory. Very catchy, dancy but chilled, wwoooo (sound of chilled breeze).
2. Release me (DJ Choose) - a seriously evil trance track (I use the word evil literally and figuratively). Sounds like it's a remix of a song from Lord of the Rings with a Sauren-esq dude occasionally whispering 'release me' in the background (medical companies out there, if you're reading this blog, it'd be an awesome track to use in a constipation ad!).
3. Somebody to love (Boogie Pimps) - the video clip for this song is inspired to say the least - a giant lingerie clad hottie frolicking in the grass whilst a string of babies parachute down towards her breasts. The song is great too!
4. Gamemaster (Paul Oakenfold) - yes that man again, I'm beginning to discover some of his classics again. This is a sterling example. The corny dialogue about controlling the planet (hence the 'gamemaster' title) sounds good when you're high.
5. Turn me on (Kevin Lyttle) - okay I admit it, I am beginning to 'appreciate' RnB. Kevin Lyttle is a falscetto singing Jamaican. That's good enough for me. An excellent choice for making a move on a girl (the lyrics are basically about asking a girl to feel you up. Somehow Lyttle manages to make it sound non-sleazy).
6. The way you move (Outkast) - this outfit has a way of making stupid songs sound good, and innocuous lyrics catchy. Does anyone out there know how many band members there are? I'm a bit confused 'cos every film clip seems to feature a new lead singer :-P
7. Life for rent (Dido) - the genius of Dido (if that is the right word, probably not) is her ability to sing singable songs. Her chord range isn't very robust, but that seems to play to her audience because it means you can easily sing it in the car whilst driving to and from Canberra and Sydney.
8. The grass is blue (Norah Jones featuring Dolly Parton) - my mind is blank on this one. I like it because it sounds good. Yes, you read right – Dolly Parton!
9. The scientist (Coldplay) - still going strong after all these months. My theme song without any doubt!
10. Father to son (Cat Stevens) - one of the all time great folk songs. I can sing it really well now.
- posted by syed-m @ 4:00 AM

 
You, me, us.

Read the newspaper headlines and it's instantly clear why there are problems in Iraq. Any coverage of a violent, military invasion that focuses on the dilemmas the invader is facing is bound to lead to difficulty in understanding why the situation in the occupied land is so bad. The coverage is replete with questions that, in any objective sense, would be considered beyond naive. Why is there so much unrest - looting, killing, kidnapping. Why are there people opposing our occupation so virrulently? These sorts of questions stem from one of the paradoxes of power - all forms of power that favour special interests over the interests of the majority require an extensive propaganda machinery. That is, the truth is only a means to an end. The end is ensuring that the interests of a few are confused with the interests of the many. This is how the interests of the powerful generate compliance from the general community. And yet, in that process, the powerful quickly lose a grip on reality.

Moreover, after centuries of engendering false or misleading causes into the psyche of the general public, the official propaganda line takes on a life of its own. The powerful, and those who service the powerful (meaning most of us) begin to believe the bullshit they originally spun to obfuscate uncomfortable truths (for example, note these two points. Fact 1: Iraq is sitting on the second largest known oil reserves in the world (actually possibly larger than those in Saudi, currently number one). Fact 2: Iraq is not a threat to world peace. Um, better jettison Fact 2). Institutionalised racism is one feature of this situation - the notion that other human beings (as opposed to 'our' human beings) are somehow subhuman or inferior; thereby necessitating their subjugation, exploitation, removal, and so on. By extension, the value of the 'other' life is diminished.

So, for example, the newspapers always report American casualties before Iraqi casualties, with precise numbers of casualties (as opposed to only 'rough estimates' of Iraqi casualties - no one is taking a body count on the ground). American casualties are described as 'murders', Iraqi casualties as 'deaths'. A religious leader who tells his 'followers' to mount a military uprising against the occupiers is described as a 'radical'. Yet try to describe the political leader who invades a defenceless country with the most powerful military force in the world, with a bevy of particularly radical right-wing advisers behind him, as a radical and you're likely to be branded an idealogue.

But facts are facts. The moment you start using different standards of moral outrage to characterise the actions of us and them, the moment our actions are held to a lower moral burden of proof than their's, you pave the way for all sorts of unexpected consequences. Unexpected to the moral relativist that is, because god forbid that anyone, least of all our victims, mistake our good intentions for what they really are - violent, immoral acts.

On 'Insight' (a current affairs show on one of Australia's public television stations) there was a group discussion on whether Australia should pull out its troops from Iraq before Christmas. The current opposition leader in Australia recently issued an ultimatum of sorts to the current incumbent - that if the opposition party were in power the troops would be out of Iraq by Christmas 2004.

During the discussion, a aged former 'Iraqi diplomat' (for Saddam? who knows) made perhaps the most precient point - how could we sit here and discuss the pros and cons of Australian Defence Force personnel being withdrawn from Iraq (that is, around 200 personnel) when something so much greater - the disaster that it is current Iraq requires far greater attention?

"MOHAMED AL JABIRI, FORMER IRAQI DIPLOMAT: Well, I am personally very surprised with this debate. I think it is a tug of war between the Labor and the Coalition...and they are serving no interests. I think the Iraqis are on a different side. Nobody is really thinking about what the Iraqis are interested. You are talking about the Australian army. Now let me ask you - how many they are, what they are doing?

JENNY BROCKIE: 850, I think [only 200 of this number are in Iraq. The remainder are in and around Iraq throughout the Gulf region].

MOHAMED AL JABIRI: How is 850 persons is going to solve the Iraqis and take them into order and establish a democracy? Let us be frank. I think Australia's participation, in the first stage, it took into considerations its alliances with the United States and that was the main interest for the coalition to establish for going into Iraq."

What Mohamed Al Jabiri doesn't realise is that the debate, the journalist mediating it, the television station airing the debate aren't directly interested in the plight in Iraq. If they were, they'd all be part of some political movement. The debate is an end in itself - an opportunity to participate in a western, liberal democracy. That is, in a manner that avoids political accountability (of course, you can criticise the personalities involved - Bush, Blair and Howard - but I'd argue that that is something quite different).

Of course things aren't as static or binary as I've suggested above (this is a blog for fuck's sake). The interests of different peoples are intertwined in complex, contradictory, often conflicting ways. Which makes it all the more harder to break the systems of oppression down.
- posted by syed-m @ 8:56 PM

 
Wow how time flies. Already we're in the second week of April and I'm only now adjusting to life in 2004. Work has been a tad draining. Even though I haven't been round-the-clock busy, it's been exhausting. Otherwise I've been preparing myself for other pastures in the hope that they are greener (at least in patches). Ever more I am realising how difficult it is to pidgeon-hole myself. Sometimes I wish I was more single-minded. That way I'd more easily compromise on dreams and expectations that don't fit into the life I am living. Thankfully, those feelings don't last. The problem is that individual development is rewarded the most keenly in our society. It is hard not to become self-absorbed because our relationships with people and society in general are usually only vicariously developed.

Reading my blog a couple of weeks ago (pretty much for the first time - I tend to just skribble something down and not linger on the words. This must surely not come as a surprise to you, dear reader!) I realised how overwhelmingly negative my entries are. For the record, I want to assure readers that I am not suicidal - I'm not that proactive! I should also point out, not the least to myself, that life really is fantastic. Honestly.

When I returned from Pakistan in February this year, perhaps the greatest lesson I had learnt from the experience was just how fortunate I am. Especially in material terms. But in most other ways as well, I have been truly blessed by a bounty of privileges. It is easy to forget this. You tend only to notice a blemish on a wall and ignore the rest. On Thursday I drove up to Sydney with Plan A. We spoke for the entire three hour trip, mostly on fairly personal things. By the end of the journey I felt that much more comfortable with the paradox that is our (platonic*) relationship There's no point elaborting on what happened, I'm too busy, have better things to do. The need to posthumously reevaluate what happened isn't that strong.

One thing we discussed that is worth recounting was how easy it is to forget how good life is. I think of my daily routine - the warm, comforting morning shower that is a total luxury. The family and friends who put up with my foolishness, and whose foolishness I gladly (generally) accept. The empowerment of knowledge, my gender, my profession. Even after all these realisations have been made, I cannot say I am all that happy. But I'm not that sad, not really. Just a tad tautological. I've already worked out who I am, what I need to do. But I still keep asking myself - what am I supposed to be doing, where am I supposed to go from here?

Right this very moment I must visit the bathroom. I had three bananas this morning. You really can have too much of a good thing. Happy Easter everyone!

*Thanks to Circe for quietly explaining to me recently that the correct spelling is not 'plutonic' but 'platonic' (and I quote 'As in Plato? Ahhh...'). Mental note to myself - know how to spell fancy words before using them!
- posted by syed-m @ 7:54 PM