A Post About Nothing

A post about nothing Starting to zone out staring at a stream of mesmerising updates on the 'puter.  So I'm probably part-sleeping as I read.  It's oddly soothing to be between wakefulness and sleep, staring at this inanimate thing as it turns over information.  A ticking, prolific information-clock that is both time and clock -- sometimes throwing up the most surprising (or shocking) and random things. Moving on ... Politics -- even if confined in one region -- is tricky to watch well. For example, when looking at the Novorossiya conflict, I'd completely forgotten about the national big business interests in the region that also have a stake in what's going on. It's unclear to me who all the local business players are and what parts they play, or what connections (national & foreign) they may have. Right now, I'm like a juggler that's focused on this ball, or that ball, as the reason for whatever conclusion I happen to draw at the time of meeting some piece of information, rather than drawing conclusions that take into account the many elements simultaneously in operation. Perspective needs adjustment.  I'm near-sighted.  Putin & Poroshenko have already discussed steps towards negotiating a ceasefire between the independence supporters and Kiev.  The talks were to continue and presumably they're still on the agenda, but there's been no further word. What's happened in the meantime is that the fake ceasefire the Ukrainians sought (and broke) has given them an opportunity to regroup, resupply and so on.  Furthermore, the Novorossiya side released 1,000 captured personnel.  So that's 1,000 released men Novorossiya will have to overcome again, when these men join their own ranks to resume fighting. The NATO forces are doing the Black Sea thing.  Russia's hooking up with China and others for a summit, which is seen by some as a counter-balance to NATO. Talk of Russia intending to negotiate trading grain for oil from Iran.  Doesn't mean much to me.  It's just a snippet of information that came to mind. The French have been pressured into blocking the Mistral delivery due to Russia at the end of this year, and they're making out like they're deferring decision-making until October, I think it was.  So they're just stringing it out.  The guess is they're not delivering.  Hope Russians sue the culottes off them in due course, and I hope their arms trade drops because they're clearly dishonourable and unreliable if they do bow to pressure and dishonour the agreement.  French arms trade has been doing well this past year.  Particulars are:  sales up 43 % 2013 @$8.84 billion.  Economy's not doing so well.  Hollande is also reportedly in danger of losing office, in due course.  Popularity score is something like 13% and right wingers are gaining ground.   It stands to reason Hollande's government would be unpopular, when he's slashing and selling, and cutting back services, while giving companies tax breaks.   By the time I'm over sifting through information that catches my attention during the course of my online travels, I'm 'over' information and couldn't be bothered regurgitating.  So this won't grow into a riveting political blog.  Turning into more of a boring, personal comment about nothing -- the Seinfeld of political blogging (minus the laughs).

What's happening?

What's happening? Discovered that a couple of my images got removed or blocked on one of my pages. Don't know which.  Images just weren't showing. Whatever happened to 'fair use'?  Replaced the images, but it's a pain to have to reconstruct something that was like a stream of consciousness at the time (rather than a plotted out and carefully recorded project).  It's also a pain to have to keep checking that the links all do their thing. Had deserters on Twitter.  It was quite funny. Compared to some of the stuff I've seen on there, my occasional outbursts are on the lame end of the spectrum of 'radical', so those followers must have been buttoned-up ultra conservative types. What's happening? There was a 'ceasefire' that wasn't a ceasefire because the Ukraine government are a pack of liars. The Frenchies are untrustworthy:  Mistral delivery up in the air.  One minute it's on & the next the French are bailing.  One minute it's a case of Hollande's 'personal opinion' the next it's a case of Russians have held up their end of the contract.  Remains to be seen, I guess. Obama had his Estonia visit & everybody's at the NATO summit.  Russia excluded, of course.  Not like they'd be welcome when they're the target. Putin's been to Altai Republic making post flood arrangements, I think. NATO's sent war ships to the Black Sea.  Done that before, so it's just more of the same. McCain and Lindsey Graham - Republican senators - are lobbying for war and pressuring Obama, I guess.  Typical republican.  Also McCain's state (Arizona) is home to military producers and Graham is Republican, Baptist, lawyer, military (rank Colonel under George W Bush), so their agenda is hardly surprising. Looks like John Kerry and other secretaries of state are at the NATO summit. Hollande's ex has put out her kiss-and-tell.  But it's dead boring.  Maybe it's those crappy French privacy laws.  The juiciest bit of info is that he represents the working classes but calls them toothless.  Geez, where's all the sleaze I was expecting? Tony Abbott's not going to export uranium to the Russians and is sending troops to Ukraine (& anywhere else the US wants), the last I heard.  Total ass-kisser. Radicals have kidnapped a heap of people.  Think that was Iraq. Truck bomb went off there as well.  Outside the secret service and military base, I think it was.  Recent car bombing there, I think.  So they're real keen on targeting that spot. Hackers are intent on targeting the Pakistan government.  There's been demonstrations and there's civil rights abuses, I think.  So it's politically motivated. UK's GCHQ are on some kind of recruiting drive - for cyber-security types.  Sounds more like they just want to identify a bunch of people who are handy with a computer.  Didn't know that hacking involved gadgetry.  Thought it was just a matter of keying crap in to get access to things.  Anyway, there's a bunch of stuff that's sold quite readily (in China, I think it was).  The more expensive stuff was for phone hacks.  The phone hacking thing is big, apparently.  It's money motivated. The Serbs anticipate more EU pressure on them to abide by anti-Russian sanctions if things hot up some more in Ukraine -- or if EU and crew decide they're revving up the sanctions. The creepiest thing I came across was black people being killed in Libya.  Didn't even know there were black people in Libya.  That probably explains the boatloads of people trying to get across to Italy. Despite my awe of ancient civilisations in the region and love of falafel, humus humous, belly-dancers, camels, Bedouin attire, Bedouin drums etc, I find the Middle East that's in the news rather scary and surprisingly alien. The religious aspects are curious.  Is it about religion really or is it more about some form of identification that's merged with religion? Even though I've taken to pointing the finger at the imperialist West or the totalitarian West, I am sooooo happy being a Westerner. The worst thing that happens to me is maybe getting stuck in a traffic jam or the annoyance of crowded parking lots. Hard to reconcile.