As part of my push to move things forward in terms of my work, I have registered www.landsofdream.net. For now, it just leads here, but that will change as new projects are announced. I also got a couple of other domains, but there is still some kind of strange issue where they don’t lead where they ought to; I’ll let you know about them as soon as they’re fixed.
100 Days
The Center for Constitutional Rights has posted a detailed analysis of how Obama has done so far in terms of restoring the Constitution to its pre-Bush form and generally adhering to its principles.
The first 100 days of the Obama administration presented a historic opportunity to restore the Constitution after the Bush administration’s systematic attempts to dismantle it, right by right, while ignoring international human rights standards. Yet, despite several strong steps, the Obama presidency has failed to live up to its promises in many areas of critical importance, including human rights, torture, rendition, secrecy and surveillance.
In the 2008 elections, the people of the United States resoundingly rejected the Bush administration legacy of torture, warrantless surveillance and a seemingly endless expansion of executive power under the rubric of the “war on terror.” What remained to be seen, however, was the political willingness and commitment of the Obama administration to not only promise hope and change, but to take concrete action to free the United States, its people and the world of the attacks on civil liberties and other human rights over the past 8 years – and beyond – and to restore the Constitution and the freedoms and rights it promises.
I also have some very cool project-related news, but that’s for tomorrow or the day after. Yes, stuff is indeed coming up.
Atlas Shrugged, I Vomited
So, according to CNN – not the most reliable of sources, but hey – the works of Ayn Rand are starting to sell again. And that, my friends, is a sure sign of the beginning of the end. Because the kind of crazy selfish thinking that Ayn Rand encouraged and glorified, and the entirely absurd belief in the religion of capitalism, is exactly what has led us to this point. And the sheer insanity of pretending that Obama’s actions are somehow anti-capitalist or even socialist is… well, insane. Of course, to Ayn Rand cultists even the slightest intervention of the state – even when it does nothing but throw money to the rich – is a crime.
Then again, what Obama is doing is not state intervention. It is, for the most part, the state acting out the orders of the rich, which is the perfectly predictable result of a system based on profit. And pretending that he is some kind of socialist is the best way of pushing for even more capitalist tactics. And of confusing those individuals, perfect victims for Rand, who are unhappy with what’s going but cannot pinpoint the source of the problem.
I’m not sure what to say. How can you argue with what is clearly a mixture of a very peculiar religion and a profound fear of society? This isn’t about analyzing how capitalism does or doesn’t work. It’s about the profound belief in the idea that thinking of nothing but yourself is somehow good, and that having to take any part in something social – such as helping others out – is a crime against your personal freedom. And from there it proceeds to glorify the one system that allows people to be truly antisocial, not having the slightest sense of morality or of being a part of something: total capitalism.
The irony, of course, is that ultimately even those values of Rand’s that one might consider positive – such as individual rights – will always be subverted by the capitalist system, which by its nature always leads to the tyranny of the rich. And her hatred of the environmental movement, well… even the most heroic of male egocentric protagonists isn’t going to survive when there’s no more air to breathe.
Something more sensible to read: Why Socialism?, by Albert Einstein. Yes, that guy.
More Disgust
Things are getting predictably worse in Sri Lanka as the government continues to shell civilians in its attempt to destroy all opposition from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. And what are all the major powers doing? The usual bullshit.
UN Security Council president, Mexico’s ambassador Claude Heller, told the media: “We demand that the LTTE immediately lay down arms, renounce terrorism, allow UN assisted evacuation of the remaining civilians in the conflict area and join the political process.” The Sri Lankan government has already ruled out any amnesty for the LTTE leadership or any place for it in the political process.
The US, France and Britain have chimed in with predictable expressions of concern. On Wednesday, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner suggested a possible joint intervention with Britain to rescue the Tamil civilians. For its part, China has helped protect the Rajapakse government by blocking any formal UN Security Council resolution—something none of the other permanent members has challenged. (source)
That’s just wonderful. Ask the LTTE to lay down arms and basically let themselves be killed, even though they’re not the ones shelling villages and not allowing any foreign reporters or observers. (I don’t actually support the LTTE, but they’re clearly not the ones in charge of this situation. They’re partly responsible for it, and their agenda is extremely reactionary – but the government is even worse, and are very much the greater power.)
And of course, the government claims the LTTE are using civilians as human shields. How can anyone still buy this nonsense? It has become the #1 excuse for bombing civilians anywhere. It was the same nonsense in Iraq and Gaza – yes, we had to bomb schools full of children. And those houses we blew up that were full of civilians? Yeah, the reason you found all those dead civilians instead of terrorists with thousands of weapons was… umm… they’re using human shields! They’re evil, not us!
Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona yesterday denied there was any humanitarian crisis. “We have a challenge and we have experience and we will deal with it more than adequately,” he said. (source)
Yes, and the surge worked! Hooray for all-out insanity.
Edit: In fact, things seem to have gotten so bad that even the LTTE are declaring a ceasefire. Let’s see how this goes – not well for the people of Sri Lanka, I fear.
Edit Again: And here’s the response to the ceasefire.
The government’s criminal indifference for civilian lives was expressed in its reaction to the LTTE’s announcement of a “unilateral ceasefire” on Saturday. Defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse, the president’s brother, branded the declaration a “joke”. He continued: “They were not fighting with us; they were running from us. There is no need of a ceasefire. They must surrender. That is it.”
While there have been reports from aid agencies that the LTTE has prevented civilians from fleeing, the responsibility for the humanitarian disaster in northern Sri Lanka rests squarely with the Rajapakse government. The army has laid siege to the area with 50,000 troops and prevented adequate aid supplies from entering the no-fire zone. Its aerial and artillery bombardment of civilian areas amounts to a war crime under international law.
The government’s contempt for Tamil civilians is underscored the fact that all of those who have been “liberated” from the LTTE have been flung into internment camps guarded by the security forces. According to government figures, 150,000 people are now being held at 38 sites around the towns of Vavuniya, Jaffna and Trincomalee. Aid agencies put the number as high as 200,000, with tens of thousands more on the way. (source)
Wonderful, isn’t it? Sigh…
Working with Chocolate Jesus
I’m working on Phenomenon 32 (still rebuilding the game world, making it a lot more complex) and listening to Tom Waits. What a master. He never ceases to amaze me. His music is uniquely powerful – there’s really nothing like it.
Torture.
As more and more information comes to light, it is now becoming utterly impossible to deny that all the major members of the Bush administration, as well as high-ranking Democrats, were not only fully aware of the use of torture, but specifically approved of it.
And what is the reaction from Obama? He and his people are doing the best to block any action being taken, even if it is likely to be no more than a whitewash, claiming it would be “retribution”. The media, who prefer to call torture “harsh interrogation” are either pretending that there is or should be some kind of moral debate about this, or are just directly threatening Obama for even daring to suggest that it would be possible to maybe imply that there is something slightly wrong about torture.
But this isn’t about retribution. Retribution has nothing to do with it. If I go and kill someone, and get arrested ten days later, is it okay for me to say that “forgive and forget, it was a long time ago, let’s not dwell on the past, putting me in prison would just be retribution”? Of course not – that is the whole point of the law.
And the law has been broken. Severely. US law, international law… everything. Because you cannot debate whether waterboarding and all these other techniques are torture. I repeat: THIS IS NOT UP FOR DEBATE. These are the techniques which have been used, in variations, for centuries – as torture. These kinds of things are what the word torture means. In fact, the United States has prosecuted people for these kinds of actions.
Furthermore: it does not matter if torture works or not. We’ve always known that torture can be used to extract information, reliable or not. That’s not the point. The point is that it’s WRONG. The point is that democratic societies do not torture.
So, Mr. Obama. By refusing to go after the people responsible – mainly the people in charge, that is, though I personally think that those who tortured cannot claim to be innocent – you are basically making torture legal. (Just like not going after murderers would make murder legal. Simple, really.)
But it’s not just that: you’re destroying the most basic moral and democratic principles of your country. Bush started it, but by not taking the chance to right things, you are equally responsible. If you had the slightest bit of morality in you, you would be making sure these criminals would end up in prison. It’s not a partisan issue. Torturing people, innocent or guilty, is morally wrong, illegal and unconstitutional. I don’t need to be a socialist to say that. I just need the slightest belief in democracy. Or the slightest knowledge of history.
Mr. Obama, you’re shitting on everything that hundreds of thousands of people fought for and died for: Democracy. The rule of law. Human rights. You’re ignoring the most basic moral issues. You’re even ignoring the teachings of the guy you’re supposed to consider your Messiah. Remember that stuff about treating others as you would like to be treated? And what about loving your enemy? What do you think he was talking about? Space bears? Popcorn? Reality TV?
But Christ surrounded himself with the poor and oppressed, and was killed for it. And if he was alive today, you’d stick him in one of your torture camps – one of those many that you’ve kept open – and waterboard him to death. No, wait, you’d let someone else do it for you. And give them immunity.
Disgusting
You know what’s really disgusting? The media reaction to Obama giving the kill order on those Somali pirates. Disgusting. I mean, really, really disgusting. And just about everyone is buying this as some kind of act of heroism or true leadership.
Please explain to me how murdering a small group of desperate kids (probably between the ages of 16 and 19), who had already offered to negotiate terms on which the captain of the ship could be released, is a good thing? Is it good for the captive? No, since freeing him by diplomacy is a hell of a lot less likely to get him killed. Is it good for the ongoing situation? No, since so far there had not been a single victim, and now blood has been shed. Is it good for the hundreds or more of other captives, who happen not be American? Not really, since once the violence begins it may well spread.
What is it good for, then? Obama’s PR. Making clear to the real powers behind the throne that he has no problem killing. And finding something that will make him popular with the media.
But, I hear a hypothetical someone say, they’re pirates! Evil pirates! We have to defeat them! Right?
Well, I’m no friend of piracy (on the seas), but do you have any idea about the origins of Somali piracy? Like the fact that thanks to Western intervention (glorified in Ridley Scott’s unfortunate “Black Hawk Down” film) the whole country has been a bloody mess for years now? Intervention that came after years in which the US supported a violent regime in the country, that is. And that European corporations have used this political instability as an excuse to overfish Somali waters and dump their toxic waste there? Those are the origins of piracy – an attempt by people dependent on fishing to protect their waters from the real pirates: the international corporations. And yes, the whole thing has been taken over by warlords now, and of course it’s not great. It’s also, so far, been neither lethal to anyone nor a serious economic threat to any of these companies, which considered piracy as nothing more than a minor nuisance that they were used to dealing with.
And not only do we have to kill people now, we also have the media clamoring for bombings of coastal villages and towns. Because a bunch of starving Somalis, whose entire environment we’ve polluted and whose country we’ve ruined, are such a threat that we need to bomb them.
Disgusting.
Idiots on all sides
I was going to write a few things about the walkouts at the UN anti-racism conference, but the WSWS has put it pretty well:
No political credence can be given to the political posturing of Ahmadinejad. He heads a repressive anti-democratic Islamic regime and has, at times, deliberately stirred up anti-Semitic sentiment by questioning whether the Holocaust occurred. But that his brief mention of the historical origins of Israel and the ongoing oppression of the Palestinian people produced such a response indicates the depth of political tensions in the Middle East. Neither Israel nor its US sponsor will allow any public discussion or debate on these issues.
Notwithstanding Ahmadinejad’s rhetoric, his comments were not animated by any genuine concern for the Palestinian people, nor will the Iranian government conduct any genuine struggle against Zionism and its imperialist backers.
Ahmadinejad faces national elections in June and with falling oil prices and growing unemployment his speech was primarily aimed at an Iranian domestic audience. He is also acutely aware that the deep-seated hostility among the Arab masses over collaboration between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern governments has provided him with an opportunity to posture within the region as a representative of the masses.
I don’t like Ahmadinejad or the government that he represents, and if he’d said anything in the direction of Holocaust denial, then I could understand people leaving the room (though they would have to do the same in a lot of other situations). But the content of this particular speech was totally harmless – he didn’t say anything that many Israeli historians haven’t said before.
It’s all a show. The Europeans, the Americans, the Iranians, the Israelis. Everyone wants to stay in power and keep things as they are. There can never be any real change before people recognize that.
So what’s Jonas been up to?
After a bout of “real” work, I am now back at the task of finishing Phenomenon 32. After that, it’s back to editing and finishing The Great Machine: A Nightmare. After that, the novel. There’s also a few interesting side projects coming up, but nothing gigantic… I think. I’ll let you know as things develop.
If you’re wondering why Phenomenon 32 is taking so long, it’s because I’m altering a lot of its content. I was unhappy with the simplicity of large parts of the gameworld, and am taking steps to make it more complex and difficult. I’ve also been playing around with Construct, which I will use for my next game.
I am putting a great deal of effort and time into all of my projects right now. For quite some time now, I’ve been feeling that I need to move on – I’m tired of this existence as a student, wasting so much time with things I am only partially interested in. I need to be working on real stuff – creative stuff. And I need to get to the place where I can do this as my main occupation. To achieve this, I am going to be working on all my projects for several hours per day, every day. And I’m going to be asking for your support – not necessarily financial, but also support in spreading the word and helping these various works reach a wider audience. Word of mouth is what the internet is all about, right? I’ll be putting up a revised “how to help” page in the next few days.
Oh, and here’s a screenshot from the combat system. (Just to make this clear: the combat graphics are not animated and not 3D. This is turn-based strategy.)
Now back to the seemingly harmless area south of the player’s base…
The Lady Revisited
Ivo has written a review of Lady in the Water. I was quite interested to see what he would think upon rewatching the film; the first time he saw it, he hated it. I was surprised by this, as I think it’s an excellent movie, and full of themes and images that Ivo might appreciate. So we talked about it quite a bit, and I came to the conclusion that maybe he’d had the same problem as I’d had with The Matrix Revolutions: going in with the wrong expectations. (I was quite disappointed with The Matrix Revolutions, because I expected sci-fi answers, not philosophical ones. Now that I understand what the movie is actually about, it’s one of my favourites.)
Go ahead, read the review. It’s very interesting. And then rewatch the film.