if anyone doubts what happens when rulers get too much power...

reporters in Turkmenistan can not mention the height of President Saparmurat Niyazov (thought to be 153 cms, just over 5 feet)

neither can they mention that he wears a toupee (men are forbidden to have long hair or beards in Turkmenistan)

President Niyazov renamed the calendar months after his family - what vanity!

all watches and clocks in Turkmenisatn must have a portrait of the President printed on the dial-face

Mr Niyazov thinks opera and ballet are unnecessary - so he banned them

Wikipedia page on Turkmenistan

********************

"The invasion of Iraq I believe will turn out to be the greatest strategic disaster in U.S. history." - Lt. General William Odom (ret)
- former director, America's National Security Agency
- former US Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence

*******************

Of the 18,000 US servicemen killed or wounded in Iraq, 94% have been killed or wounded since the fall of Baghdad in 2003

***********************

Bush and Cheney's bid for legal right to torture fails

maybe there is hope for the world after all...

*****************************

better that Stonehenge had never been built than one leg of a millipede be injured in its construction

***************************

"we are all threatened by terror" - US national security adviser

the only terror threat i have nightmares about
is being abducted and tortured by the CIA

to paraphrase Ian Dury "there ain't half some evil bastards"

*********************

Bushspeak - "America will help the Iraqis"
interpretation - "we'll take the oil and kill anyone who tries to stop us"

80% of Iraqis are strongly opposed to the presence of US troops

*****************

Nov 2002 - US missile destroys Aljazeera Afghanistan office
Apr 2003 - US bomb destroys Aljazeera Iraq office
Apr 2004 - Bush tells Blair he wants to destroy Aljazeera Qatar office

Nov 2005 - Bush talks about freedom of the press

**************************

when the most powerful country in the world locks people up indefinitely without trial in secret prisons and its leader demands the right to invade anywhere and torture anyone in the world, and says "you're either with us or against us", then it's pretty obvious that civilisation has peaked and we're sliding backwards into ignorance and barbarism, and the sooner the human race exterminates itself the better off the universe will be

***************************

if the US is going to jail people for life for having fantasies about killing George Bush they'll be locking up more than half the world's population

*************************

to break the law is illegal
it is not necessarily immoral

************

White House wants to legalise CIA torture of non-Americans

"It is a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways."

********************

5% of the world's population use a quarter of the world's oil supply
and there's people still wondering why they invaded Iraq!

***********************

press freedom? - the UK is ranked 24th - the US is ranked 44th

**********************

when Tony Blair talks about plans for "radical reform",
he means returning to the policies of Margaret Thatcher

************************

"Individuals are presumed innocent in the American legal system."

says the man who imprisons people without trial in Guantanamo

********************

Dylan's lyrics were seeds that crystallised the thoughts of a generation

*************************

what is an occupied country?

there are approx 100 American military bases in the UK
there are no UK military bases in America

******************

guilty until shot dead

UK Crown Prosecution Service confirms new policing policy

*********************

a pandemic reducing the human population by 99% would be good news for the 500,000+ species that humans will kill off during the next 50 years

**************************

Labour used the UK's new terrorism laws against their own supporters at the last Party Conference

so what chance have the rest of us got?

************************

instead of picking on David Cameron about whether he once smoked dope, it would be far better to get rid of all the Parliamentary drunks and alcoholics

****************************

George Bush and Tony Blair acted much like Nazi war criminals"

- Scott Ritter, former chief UN weapons inspector in Iraq

********************

George Bush told by God to invade Iraq and Afghanistan

"I can't think for you - You'll have to decide" - Bob Dylan

*********************

"Britain's success in bringing democracy to Iraq..." - Jack Straw

146 university professors assassinated in the past two years

***********************

Blair said there were weapons of mass destruction - there were none
Blair said it was to stop terrorism - suicide bombers attacked London
Blair said it was to keep the peace - there's now a civil war raging

*********************

the illegal invasion of Iraq teaches us that each generation must learn anew that governments represent rich and powerful interests and that they lie without hesitation shame or remorse

***********************************

how the foreign terrorists tortured their prisoners -

"ANYTHING SHORT OF AN INMATE'S DEATH WAS ALLOWED...
IT WAS SPORT... WE KEPT IT TO BROKEN ARMS AND LEGS"

*************************

Tony Blair's continued babbling about progress in Iraq is a disgrace to the Labour Party, a disgrace to Parliament, a disgrace to politics, and a disgrace to the country

***********************

when i was young, i was told the UK was a good place to live because we didn't lock people up without trial

now i'm told the UK is a better place to live because we do lock people up without trial

this must be the progress which Tony Blair keeps whittering on about

************************

there is something obscene about a world in which some countries spend billions of dollars on nuclear weapons and in other countries babies starve to death because of drought

*****************

the problem with rulers who have strong religious beliefs is that they divide people into good and bad - and the worse those rulers are, the more righteous they consider themselves

*********************

the United Nations is a forum for powerful countries to promote their idealogical amd commercial interests in return for subsidising humanitarian organisations

********************

UN food for oil scandal?

the real scandal is that the sanctions were ever imposed
it was pure vindictiveness

Vietnam and Cuba suffered similarly from unjust sanctions

*********************************

Ken Clarke to run for Tory leadership -
he's an honest man of common sense and wide interests
(as opposed to that cheesy lying neocon puppet Blair)

if only they'd swop parties, the future would be a lot brighter

********************

why were the US so keen on weapons inspectors in Iraq?

they wanted to be certain no weapons of mass destruction existed
before they invaded

****************************

farm which breeds animals for vivisection to close

best news i've seen this year

********************

British justice used to be "innocent until proved guilty"
which has to be better than "guilty until shot by the police"

*************************

vice president Richard Cheney’s former company Halliburton has received more than $10 billion in no-bid contracts for work in Iraq

it's an ill wind...

*********************************

when i lived in America, the biggest selling lapel badge said "NUKE IRAN"

why is the USA the only country allowed to use nuclear weapons?

all countries are equal, but some are more equal than others?

*********************

if Germany had dropped an atomic bomb on New York because it would have helped them to end WWII quickly, would that have been a good thing to do?

******************

CIA paramilitary force tried to ferment Iraqi rebellion in 2002

how many other bombings and assassinations are the work of the CIA?

what's the difference between a CIA terrorist and an Al Qaeda terrorist?
one gets better pay - the other hopes for a better pay-off

*********************

Tony Blair to stand down as an MP at the next election -
he intends "to do something relevant to his religious beliefs"

- like begging forgiveness from his God for illegally invading Iraq,
resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent people?

*********************

"I welcome the recognition that the only route to political change lies exclusively in peaceful and democratic means." (Tony Blair)

so why did he take part in the invasion of Iraq?

***********************

when people voted for Hitler, it was a vote for fascism
when people voted for Bush and Blair, it was a vote for war

************************

Tony Blair insists the London bombings are unconnected with Iraq
- who do you think you're kidding, Mr Titler?

**************************

if, as Tony Blair says, the London bombings are unconnected with Iraq,
and if, as George Bush says, the terrorists are opposed to democracy,
how come there have been no threats against Sweden and Norway?

****************************

it's not that George Galloway is more truthful than other politicians
it's that he doesn't care what other politicians think of him

**************************

i miss being able to divide money, weights, lengths etc by 3
let us resist the decimalisation of clocks and compasses

**********************

50 killed in London - "the guilty will be found and punished"
39,000 killed in Iraq - the guilty will be praised and given medals

*************************

if politicians put their efforts into trying to end wars rather than into trying to win wars the world would be a lot more peaceful

*****************

Blair drops bombs on Iraq regularly for years and says it's good.
Four bombs go off in Central London and he say it's barbaric.
Am i missing something?

*******************

why don't they stop pretending, and call it the G1 summit?

***********************

Iraqi male prisoners tortured with electric shocks by Interior Ministry

Iraqi female prisoners whipped with electric cables to force confesions

this is the "freedom" that Bush and Blair hypocritically boast about in their greed for oil and power

if there is a Hell, that's where they'll burn

forget the fine words - remember the tens of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians killed by the Americans and the puppet Iraqi government they manipulate

one thing you can be sure of - Bush and Blair will blame everyone in the world except themselves - they are clever, but they are also insane - they have no comprehension of the pain and devastation which they are inflicting on Iraq

when fundamentalist Christians talk of a crusade, then all the spin in the world can't disguise the fact that what they're talking about is a war on Islam

******************

Iraq is America's whipping boy for 9/11 - maybe when they've killed 1M Iraqis they'll give up and go home

********************

2 million people without water in Baghdad for 3 days (since 19th June)
it's getting better all the time?

***********************

"Iraqi civilians will welcome an American-led liberation force"
Paul Wolfowitz - US Deputy Defense Secretary - 28 February 2003

latest Iraq Coalition Casualties

**********************

there is a line between terrorism and legitimate protest
which many governments are trying to erase

********************

the Stone Age lasted for millennia
the Bronze Age lasted nearly 2,000 years
the oil age is expected to last 200 years
(it started in 1850)

**********************

if Iran develops nuclear weapons it will be invaded by the USA
if Iran doesn't develop nuclear weapons it will be invaded by the USA

******************

and Bush said to Blair "Let there be identity cards"

******************

lies, damn lies, and loathsome hypocrisy - Tony Blair agreed in April 2002 to help George Bush precipitate the invasion of Iraq (8 months before the UN resolution used to justify their plundering of Iraqi oil)

**************************

every year 2,000 new species of plants are recorded

*********************

the US is alleged to transfer prisoners to the following countries for routine torture - Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Jordan, Egypt, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Diego Garcia

******************

"US Calls Iraq Border Offensive a Success" say the headlines, success being measured by the number of dead Iraqis, which is also a measure of the failure of US policy

***********************

"Do you know what happens to little boys who tell lies?"
"They become Prime Minister."

****************

globalisation is one of the economic goals of the world's leaders
despite its contribution to keeping 12M people in forced labour

*******************

when Tony Blair talks about his "radical agenda", presumably he means continuing the 'Thatcherisation' of Britain?

*************

Blair says voters have given Labour a mandate to govern the country - 22% of the electorate voted Labour - some mandate!

*********************

genetic evidence backs claim that the Chinese visited America before Columbus

************************

the best outcome of the UK election would be a hung parliament - followed by Tony Blair's resignation - followed by another election

******************

if Bush and Blair are so intent on imposing democracy in the Middle East, why are they defending Kuwait, where women are not allowed to vote?

**********************

the UK General Election, what a choice of potential rulers!
an English Protestant, a Welsh Jew, or a Scottish Catholic
- and not one of them seems interested in the pagan vote

******************

Donald Rumsfield is reported to have offered Saddam Hussein a freedom deal - what's the odds on an invasion of Iraq by Bush III in 2015? (just keeping up the family tradition)

*******************

one awaits Pope Benedict's declaration that God is a lapsed Catholic

*********************

US media portrayed the Iraqi elections as a triumph for democracy
Iraqis saw it as a vote to end the foreign occupation of their country

***********************

Jerusalem is at the centre of three of the world's major religions - i expect that's why it's such a violent place

*****************

love of money is the root of all evil?
try telling that to Cheyney and Halliburton

******************

God's Rottweiler romps home at 5:1 in papal contest

not that i've got anything against transvestites, or Germans -
but popes... hmm...

**********************

Happy Bicycle Day (16th April)

*********************

1 in 4 US soldiers returning from Iraq are said to have a mental health problem. And what is the figure for Iraqi detainees released from US detention centres?

*****************

*****************

vote Labour, get Blair - get Blair, get Bush

**********************

the US spends 30 times more on military strategies than on developmental help - if it was the other way round the world would be a safer place

***************

The US and the UK are the world's two largest arms exporters
it's vital for their economies that the world does not run out of wars

*****************

"China would never pose a threat to any country" - Wen Jiabao

well it already poses a threat to a lot of Chinese people

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/1425570.stm

********************

"a new dawn is breaking" - Tony Blair
yes - it shattered under the weight of New Labour spin

******************

former US commander in Iraq sanctioned the Abu Ghraib abuse - not surprising given American expertise in interrogation and torture techniques

*********************

today is a day of mourning - my friend's pet gerbil died last night - ok, so he didn't live in a magnificent palace looked after by a troupe of Polish virgins, and he didn't wear fabulously embroided dresses, or ride around in bullet-proof limousines - but hey, we're all equal in the sight of God, right?

*****************

Africa's share of the global economy has halved in the last 20 years - and people are still saying globalisation doesn't work - well it's working ok for the G8 countries

**********************

the purpose of intelligence agencies is to provide justifications for government policies

**********************

Christian Voice describes BBC tv program as 'evil' - and these thumbscrew and burn them in hell outfits think they're 'good'?

*********************

"This is evidence, not conjecture. This is true." - Colin Powell,
lying to the United Nations about Iraq's weapons in 2003

**********************

environment and development ministers have a 2 hour meeting in Derby
Margaret Beckett insists on full security measures
£2M spent on 2,000 police used to contain a demonstration by 100 people

***********************

how do you tell when Blair's lying? his lips are moving

***************************

is Blair planning to issue a free ASBO with every ID card?

************************

how could the invasion of Iraq on behalf of the UN be 'legal'
when a majority of the UN representatives were opposed it?

*******************

US outsourcing torture - "drowning and suffocation, rape was used ... also the insertion of limbs in boiling liquid" - (it's not that the US is so evil, so much as their claim to be so virtuous)

**********************

"A majority of people in the US think Iraq aided al-Qaida before the war and had weapons of mass destruction."

such ignorance and stupidity in a country whose President sees himself as carrying out the will of his God makes me shudder for the future of the world

this is surely the biggest threat to Western civilisation since the emergence of the 3rd Reich

*********************

MI6 chief warned Blair 9 months before the invasion
that the US case for invading Iraq was being 'fixed'

*********************

the "World Bank" should be renamed the "American President's Bank"
(its senior official is personally selected by the US president)

**********************

Tony Blair thinks that the world is a better place without Saddam Hussein - most people think the world would be a better place without most world leaders

*******************

US strategy towards the coming world oil shortage is to monopolise supplies - a more sensible approach would be to reduce its dependence on oil

*************************

UK human rights to be replaced by arbitrary arrest and imprisonment without trial? Magna Carta to be replaced by Blair's Charter? the man is power crazy

*******************

Tony Blair took the United Kingdom into an illegal war. Now he is frightened of being the target of an assassination attempt. So he is trying to bring in panic legislation removing centuries-old human rights. Let's hope he loses his seat in the coming election before he does even more damage.

**********************

80% of childhood abuse is committed by a member of the child's family or a family friend - so if children have a problem, it's probably safer for them to tell a stranger

**********************

one Italian killed by US troops in Iraq is headline news
but every day Iraqis are killed by US troops without comment

***********************

as Tony Blair becomes increasingly unpopular, his insecurity intensifies - that's why he wants politicians to be able to order house arrests - his paranoia is growing - he's afraid of being assassinated

************************

UK Court of Appeal rules Muslim girl is allowed to wear jilbab to school
now what about the rights of sun worshippers to go to school nude?

***************************

Anglican Church to split again?
is it that time of the century already?

************************

UK proposals to give politicians the power to place people under house arrest, without making the reason public, is an ominous lurch towards tyranny

**********************

The term "concentration camp" was first used in the nineteenth century to describe prison camps used by the Spanish military during the Cuban insurrection, those created by America in the Philippines, and, most widely, to refer to British camps built during the South African War (Boer War) to confine Afrikaners in the Transvaal and Cape Colony.

if the reporter had been Cuban, Filipino or South African, would there have been the same fuss over Ken Livingstone's comment?

**********************

 
will Venezuela be the next target for US intervention? (again)

*******************

 
how can hundreds of people on horses chasing a fox contribute to "managing the countryside"?

************************

 
the 5th commandment is "Thou shall not kill" - so why are most fundamentalist Christians and Moslems in favour of the death penalty?

*****************

 
if the US is so worried about weapons of mass destruction how come they haven't invaded Israel?

**********************

England's news today dominated by the announcement of the Windsor lad's plans to remarry - (no relation to the popular EastEnders star - this lot live in SW1) - must be a very slow news day

***************

the US and UK abduction of terrorist suspects to Egypt and Syria
to be tortured with electrical shocks to genitals and orifaces
gives a whole new meaning to Christ's "turn the other cheek"

*********************

the UK Government announced that waiting lists for cataracts are down to 3 months - i've got cataracts in both eyes - one has suddenly become much worse than the other - using just the bad eye, i can't tell a newspaper from a cushion until i'm less than a foot away - the optician at Vision Express (Basildon) said come back in a year's time and you can go on the waiting list - my NHS (Basildon) doctor said nothing could be done until the cataracts "ripened" - yet modern techniqes of micro surgery means there's no need to wait for cataracts to ripen (as confirmed by NHS Direct) - and "It is in fact now easier and safer to perform cataract surgery at an earlier stage."

15 months waiting for an operation so Labour can boast about meeting its "targets"?

*******************************

the UK Health Service meets Goverment targets to bring the cataracts waiting list down to 3 months - i've got cataracts so i went to the optician - he said i had to wait a year to go on the waiting list

************************

Blair's Government introducing detainment without trial

LABOUR MACHT FREI

*************************

if the US wants Iran to give up a nuclear weapons policy, why doesn't it set an example?

*******************************

"Not every nation is going to immediately adopt America's vision of democracy"
- George Bush
well, that's a relief for those of us who don't want napalm for breakfast

***********************

BUSH MACHT FREI

************************

so George Bush is planning on an "expansion of freedom"?
presumably that means a Guantanamo in every country?

********************

if it's ok for the US to have agents in Iran pin-pointing targets for future air strikes then i guess it's ok for Iranians to have agents in the US doing the same?

******************

US finally gives up searching for Iraq weapons -
never have so many been lied to so often by so few

************************

superiority and inferiority are different sides of the same coin of insecurity

***********************

the US spends a smaller proportion of its GNP on foreign aid than any other country - for every dollar spent on foreign aid it spends $30 on military expenditure

**************************

a caring world?
US to spend $40,000,000 celebrating George Bush's inaugaration
UK has so far spent $10,000,000,000 on it's illegal invasion of Iraq

************************

it's not Saddam Hussein or Osama Bin Laden who threaten my freedom - it's Tony Blair lying to Parliament and sucking up to US multinationals in order to get the £4M he needs to pay for his new Belgravia mansion

*********************