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Thursday, July 28, 2016

Global Warm



Let's face it! Whether it's convenient for you or not, the earth has grown warmer. It's so warm that I really wonder how much warmer before we mere mortals will simply shrivel up and blow away like dry leaves.

Here in Spain, this is the time of year when traditionally it has become so warm that during the afternoon hours people all but disappear indoors to get away from the sun. Usually, as is said,  only mad dogs and Englishmen are to be found wandering around and doing our shopping when the stores are empty.

There is a phenomenon here where when the winds blow from one side of the country to the other, heat is collected from the earth as it goes and by the time it reaches the other side it feels like standing in front of a massive blowtorch. Generally it's called a Poniente, signifying that the wind is blowing from the west. The first time I experienced it  I had stepped out of my car only to get a full frontal blast. I thought I had parked in front of the exhaust of a massive machine, but no, it was just the wind. I got back into my car and turned on the air-conditiong.

There are times when I come back to my car after it has been sitting in the sun, only to open the door
and have to stand back to give the heat time to escape. The door handle is hot and the steering wheel unbearable to the touch.

So how much more can we tolerate? Five more degrees max; ten?

Then I think of all those people down at the beach who lay out in the open to get a tan. I used to pass a beach that was located below road level. You could actually smell the pungent aroma of people cooking.

For those people who deny that global warming is taking place I can only say that your faith in believing that is exceedingly naïve, especially as you feel it as I do. I simply urge you to go to the beach and strip off all your clothes, no-one will mind, and lay out in the sun for as long as you like.

You will get the point!

Copyright (c) 2016
Eugene Carmichael

Saturday, July 23, 2016

The Police vs The People



There are two types of people who are drawn to join police forces all over the world. The first type are those public spirited individuals who want to genuinely serve and protect their fellow citizens. These are people who look forward to joining their local force, to learn as much as they can in their police academy, and then they want to go out into the community to uphold the law in a fair and human manner.

These will be those officers who are given respect and cooperation by the public and they become pillars of the community to whom people look up to for guidance and wisdom. Ideally, such officers will never have to fire their weapons in anger.

Unfortunately, the other type of recruit is a person who is probably mentally sick as he is a control freak. This type of person should be turned away at the beginning as he will be the source of many problems in the community and a pain in the ass for the force itself. Generally he is welcomed with open arms.

He is a cancer within the force. His style of policing will be abrasive and aggressive and embarrassing, but when a moderate policeman says something to challenge him that person gets dumped upon by all the officers of a similar persuasion. The facts are that such controlists  are likely to be a majority because the police are in charge as they go about their daily tasks and they must exercise control.

Fundamentally, when we are confronted by the police we should be respectful and cooperative. When a policemen tells us to do something we should follow his instruction immediately. If he demands that we do something that is unlawful, or that is harmful to us we can challenge that in a court of law. To make matters worse he is also an officer of the court, but there are times when the court will turn against him and even send him to jail for having acted unlawfully.

Such a person is in fact a dictator who becomes accustomed to having his every word obeyed, both by members of the public and his own family. If he is a person who is a racist, which is very likely, that adds an element that is extremely explosive.

Then comes the final element that completes the description of a walking time bomb: he is given a gun.

In the United States it appears that there is a strategy against the black man to place as many behind bars as is possible, or to simply gun them down in the street at the hands of the police. It would appear that all certain policemen needs is the least resistance to their own barbaric behaviour and they shoot first and expect to be vindicated by more senior officers who are a part of the same mindset.

These things are done in the face of America's first black president, seemingly as a form of showing him the finger.

So, blacks are starting to push back by shooting policemen in cold blood. Perhaps that can be understood, but not only will the controlists police not back down, they will likely step up their game. They have more guns and ammo, and they have authority.

Focus needs to be placed upon those who control the policemen in the street to reign them in. If they are unable to do so then they should be removed until people are found to control the controlists.

Policemen in America shoot and kill white people as well as blacks, but the situation is so bad for blacks that people have had to come forward to remind America that Black Lives Matter as well as white lives.

The police against the public is normal: We can only hope we don't have the misfortune to run into the very sick one. A war against the police can only have dire consequences, and unfortunately that war has already begun.

Copyright (c) 2016
Eugene Carmichael

Monday, July 18, 2016

BreakTime



I have just taken a week away from my computer, my television, and my phone to go to the mountains and to let in the pure air and the unlimited beautiful scenery, and to relax. It feels really good to do that every once in a while. Mankind was not made to always be on alert, or to constantly absorb so much information. Considering that most of the information we receive is bad news I worry about my capacity to take on such data.

With our beloved electronic devices they usually tell us that they can not handle any more because they are full. That would be like our stomachs telling us that we don't need to eat any more, but as for our minds warning us that we have had enough bad news and that we are now in danger mode and should simply shut down; I think we just have to use our judgement. I'm finding that point is growing smaller and smaller because the news is so bad.

We now seem to be in a world where evil men are trying to outdo one another in the total number of innocent people they kill.

One week where everything was switched off has done me a world of good. Of course I have come back to where things are even worse than where I left them, but at least I gave myself a little holiday.

I think of my friends in the mountains of Cameroon who aren't even aware that the terrorist group Boka Haram are operating nearby and they live in splendid ignorance.

Oh, how I envy them!


Copyright (c) 2016
Eugene Carmichael  

Sunday, July 10, 2016

The Chilcot Report and Tony Blair



I watched as Colin Powell set out the reasons for war against Iraq's Saddam Hussein and I immediately concluded, as a non-expert, that this would be a war simply because the Chief wanted it, and it was being persecuted on the very shaky grounds of a pretext. My sense was that General Powell was not himself convinced this was necessary, but as the good soldier that he was, when the Commander-in-Chief says jump, all that remains is how high.

We have no real idea of why Mr Bush decided he would remove Saddam from power and send him to his death, although there are many theories, but in general there is a school of thought that held that it was not a good idea. American commentators are now very strident in their criticisms of that war, and for those British forces that fought and died, it is no small wonder that the families are unforgiving.

Having declared war, then Mr Bush went looking for people to join with him in that ill conceived adventure. He picked on Tony Blair and Jose Maria Aznar of Spain. Tony bought into the idea fully, but Jose, while confirming he felt he was a friend of the president did not commit Spain to go to war.

With that as the background we examine the role of Mr Blair which seemed to be even more enthused than the president himself. He was unrestrained in his selling of the war, and the reasons why Britain should be involved. It even seemed that Mr Bush was a bit embarrassed by Mr Blair's activism.

The Chilcot Report was based upon information gathered in the cold light of day, long after the events have taken place, and with the benefit of hindsight. This is always the way it is. There is no heat of the moment to be taken into consideration, so if we didn't  get it right at the moment this exercise will highlight all your mistakes in an unforgiving spirit.

Saddam Hussein and his sons were truly evil people who should have been wiped from the face of the earth. I think that idea has a huge degree of support. However, if you are going to do something like that it will involve such complex reactions that will follow that there has to be a comprehensive follow up plan in anticipation. That is what appears to have been missing, so failures or mistakes in the execution are laid even larger by what has followed. That is the rub.

A lot can be forgiven if an action ends in complete success across the board. Even then you will not please everybody and people will find reasons to criticise.

Nobody ever said being a leader is easy. It did seem that Mr Blair was on his way to finding himself in a tight spot. However, when the head of a government makes mistakes like those highlighted in The Chilcot Report they are usually made at the expense of people's loss of life. Usually the only redeeming quality of mistakes are the lessons we learn from them.

Lessons learned too late for the dead!

Copyright (c) 2016
Eugene Carmichael


Sunday, July 3, 2016

2016 - The Year of Stupid



The world welcomed in 2016 in the usual fashion because it represented the arrival of new hope. If we knew then what we know now we need not have bothered.

It began in a big way with the political primary season in the United States. The long list of hopefuls lined up and mercifully and quickly they dropped out, one by one to reduce the field down to the one person who should not have even been in the mix to begin with. At the beginning the country said that Donald Trump had no chance whatsoever and he was thought of as a big joke.

Because this is the Year of the Stupid the world is now waiting and watching and holding its breath because The Donald is the Republican presumptive nominee for the office of President of the United States. Even the Republicans don't want him, and to make sure he doesn't get in there may be a new party called Republicans for Hillary.

How on earth did that happen?

Throughout the year other things have happened involving terrorism that is straight out of the lunatic asylum. People gathered together for an evening of entertainment only to meet their death. Perhaps they were at a football stadium, or at a restaurant or a rock concert and some people  showed up bearing guns with bullets to end their lives.

This is called the slaughter of the innocents, but perhaps it means that none of us can be called innocent. We are all engaged in the war against terror. None of us are bystanders any longer.  We should not simply go along meekly with whatever we are ordered to do by the terrorists. We have to fight back. What have we got to lose if they are going to kill us anyway. Don't be silly and just sit there.

That brings us to the Brexit in the U.K. I predicted that the vote would come down on the Leave side because the whole thing was so emotional. The Leave side spread such utter nonsense and whipped people into a frenzy under the heading: Let's take back our Country! We have all seen British Hooligans in action. What has happened is that a bunch of people have gone mad and voted to Leave, and now they are saying oops! Should not have done that! Can we repeat the referendum? Well, no!

It's the Silly Season! The Leave decision is so complex and suggests such an uncertain future for Britain that no-one even has any idea of how silly this is.

To add to the confusion Scotland voted in a referendum of their own a couple of years ago to remain with Britain, and by extension, to remain with the EU. Now that Britain has voted to Leave, Scotland now wants to leave Britain and remain with the EU. Don't think they can do that. Also, Northern Ireland are thinking about exiting Britain for the same reason. I wonder if Her Majesty knows any swear words?

Meanwhile, the British government has lost both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. (He just doesn't know it yet). To put the cherry on top of the cake, the man who led the charge to Leave, and the person who most wanted the role of Prime Minister, Boris Johnson has now stepped down. He doesn't want those things after all. WTF?

I told you it was silly!

Down under the Aussies have held a general election that ended in no decisive result, so Australia is without a government, and Spain has held its second general election to try and form a government, again without result, or even a likely chance of resolving the issue.

It's that  Silly Season thing in full swing.

We now have the whole Summer ahead of us when we will all be on vacation at some point or other. That means enhanced use of airports and sea ports and trains and planes. See you when you get back.....hopefully.

Then comes November when the chance will be offered to commit the most silly act of all. I have been telling people to relax because there is no way that The Donald will become the next president. In fact, I have said that the system is designed to avoid just such a thing happening. If the people bring forth someone who is clearly a bad choice the super-delegates step in and make the intelligent call.

However, this is 2016, the Year of the Silly.

Mr President!

Copyright (c) 2016
Eugene Carmichael