Buddhaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi.
Dhammaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi.
Saṅghaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi.
Dutiyampi buddhaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi.
Dutiyampi dhammaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi.
Dutiyampi saṅghaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi.
Tatiyampi buddhaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi.
Tatiyampi dhammaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi.
Tatiyampi saṅghaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi.
Thursday, 24 March 2011
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
There's no justice in the world, and there never was.
I have been following - albeit from a distance - what's been happening in the Middle East recently. Now, I'm not really a politically minded person, hell, only seldom do I voice an opinion regarding these matters. But I can't help but be wholly perplexed by what's going on in the region. I am unsure where this recent unrest began, but I understand that countries like Yemen, Bahrain, Tunisia, and more recently (and more notoriously, perhaps) Egypt and Libya have seen an uprising of sorts, where the masses sought to wrest control of their lives, liberties and destinies from the ruling classes.
All commendable notions, I'm sure, but... only a simpleton or a fool could (or would) believe that anything of real import to the people of these countries actually happened. Have people gone blind, or have they simply forgotten their history?
What is the one thing, the one comodity inherent to this region, that is of paramount importance to the great super-powers of this world? And, equally important and intriguing, who benefits from these conflicts, who has all to gain from all this conflict?
Who stands victorious, even from afar, after all the bloodshed? Who has a history of deploying nuclear weapons and of invading sovereign countries? Ah... It is a matter of historical record, isn't it?
And speaking of history, let me refresh that notion : in 1953, on what became known as Operation Ajax, a coup d'état was orchestrated in part by the C.I.A., effectively overthrowing the then current Iranian government to put in place a new and more American friendly government. In1961, the same Agency was responsible for the failed invasion of the Bay of Pigs, as well as a number of assassination attempts on Fidel Castro.In 1965, a U.S.-backed coup in Indonesia leads to widespread slaughter of communist sympathizers, with a death toll of over one million.
Between 1967 and 1972, the Phoenix Program was put in place, a program that consisted in the neutralization via infiltration, capture, terrorism or assassination of the civilian infrastucture that supported the NLF insurgency.
It gets better : sometime in 1969, one of the most evil men who ever lived became the 'leader of the Free World' : Richard Nixon. And under Nixon's authority and purview, in 1969 Cambodia and Laos become the most heavily bombed areas in human history, thanks to Nixon's illegal campaign of carpet bombing. More than 600.000 dead.
In 1973, the C.I.A. ousts the democratically elected president of Chile, installing the corrupt regime of Augusto Pinochet. Thousands tortured and executed.
Need I say anything about both Gulf Wars, and all the lies that the media have fed us? Must I go into detail about the excuses they've been scrounging up to justify to the world their next invasion, maybe Iran?
No, I don't think I do. And knowing all this, bearing all this in mind... what do you think is really happening right now? Do you suppose these folks in the middle east just up and decided to rise against their tyrants after decades (if not centuries) of oppression? Morevoer, what, exactly did they achieve? Did they fight for what they perceive as 'freedom'?
For, you see, Intelligence has indeed evolved quite a bit in these past few years : where once the world would turn a blind eye to the atrocities described above, now a more refined degree of subtlety is required. And it is ultimately so simple... why engage in direct conflict, when one can be instigated and manipulated to whichever end they deem more fit? That IS what is happening right now, and make no mistake. It galls me that ever since these insurrections began, a new wave of international activism and indignation swept across the globe - and this was translated mainly in a number of (unsurprisingly) violent manifestations as well as people spending twice as much time on the internet, in order to fully demonstrate how preoccupied they are over the middle-eastern plight.
And why? To what end? Is it that they do not understand just what these people achieved? Are their brains so addled by opinion and hearsay that they fail to see what freedoms these people now have? Well, let me tell you, they have now pretty much the same freedoms as we have, which is to say, not very many.
They have now the freedom to think that they're free to elect the tyrants of their choice, who will be naught but puppets whose strings are controlled by a very old and cunning hand. They also have the freedom to begin the process that will ultimately lead to the erosion and final destruction of their own national identity. They have the freedom of being host to friendly invasions of international conglomerates, eager to exploit these under-developed and under-funded wretches. They have the freedom to gorge themselves to bursting in the tidal wave of McFood that's sure to drown their countries in exchange for their oil.
These are all the true freedoms that they will ever have. To think otherwise is beyond naive, it's of a stupidity bordering on the suicidal.
Freedom? No freedom for them, no freedom for us. And don't fool yourself... do you think that you deserve your freedom?
I don't think you do...
All commendable notions, I'm sure, but... only a simpleton or a fool could (or would) believe that anything of real import to the people of these countries actually happened. Have people gone blind, or have they simply forgotten their history?
What is the one thing, the one comodity inherent to this region, that is of paramount importance to the great super-powers of this world? And, equally important and intriguing, who benefits from these conflicts, who has all to gain from all this conflict?
Who stands victorious, even from afar, after all the bloodshed? Who has a history of deploying nuclear weapons and of invading sovereign countries? Ah... It is a matter of historical record, isn't it?
And speaking of history, let me refresh that notion : in 1953, on what became known as Operation Ajax, a coup d'état was orchestrated in part by the C.I.A., effectively overthrowing the then current Iranian government to put in place a new and more American friendly government. In1961, the same Agency was responsible for the failed invasion of the Bay of Pigs, as well as a number of assassination attempts on Fidel Castro.In 1965, a U.S.-backed coup in Indonesia leads to widespread slaughter of communist sympathizers, with a death toll of over one million.
Between 1967 and 1972, the Phoenix Program was put in place, a program that consisted in the neutralization via infiltration, capture, terrorism or assassination of the civilian infrastucture that supported the NLF insurgency.
It gets better : sometime in 1969, one of the most evil men who ever lived became the 'leader of the Free World' : Richard Nixon. And under Nixon's authority and purview, in 1969 Cambodia and Laos become the most heavily bombed areas in human history, thanks to Nixon's illegal campaign of carpet bombing. More than 600.000 dead.
In 1973, the C.I.A. ousts the democratically elected president of Chile, installing the corrupt regime of Augusto Pinochet. Thousands tortured and executed.
Need I say anything about both Gulf Wars, and all the lies that the media have fed us? Must I go into detail about the excuses they've been scrounging up to justify to the world their next invasion, maybe Iran?
No, I don't think I do. And knowing all this, bearing all this in mind... what do you think is really happening right now? Do you suppose these folks in the middle east just up and decided to rise against their tyrants after decades (if not centuries) of oppression? Morevoer, what, exactly did they achieve? Did they fight for what they perceive as 'freedom'?
For, you see, Intelligence has indeed evolved quite a bit in these past few years : where once the world would turn a blind eye to the atrocities described above, now a more refined degree of subtlety is required. And it is ultimately so simple... why engage in direct conflict, when one can be instigated and manipulated to whichever end they deem more fit? That IS what is happening right now, and make no mistake. It galls me that ever since these insurrections began, a new wave of international activism and indignation swept across the globe - and this was translated mainly in a number of (unsurprisingly) violent manifestations as well as people spending twice as much time on the internet, in order to fully demonstrate how preoccupied they are over the middle-eastern plight.
And why? To what end? Is it that they do not understand just what these people achieved? Are their brains so addled by opinion and hearsay that they fail to see what freedoms these people now have? Well, let me tell you, they have now pretty much the same freedoms as we have, which is to say, not very many.
They have now the freedom to think that they're free to elect the tyrants of their choice, who will be naught but puppets whose strings are controlled by a very old and cunning hand. They also have the freedom to begin the process that will ultimately lead to the erosion and final destruction of their own national identity. They have the freedom of being host to friendly invasions of international conglomerates, eager to exploit these under-developed and under-funded wretches. They have the freedom to gorge themselves to bursting in the tidal wave of McFood that's sure to drown their countries in exchange for their oil.
These are all the true freedoms that they will ever have. To think otherwise is beyond naive, it's of a stupidity bordering on the suicidal.
Freedom? No freedom for them, no freedom for us. And don't fool yourself... do you think that you deserve your freedom?
I don't think you do...
Sunday, 13 March 2011
I thought you were the truth.
So yesterday I went out with a friend of mine, and we ended up drinking quite a bit - beer, shots, you name it. Around two a.m. or so, we're trying to decide what to do. I wasn't feeling that tired or sleepy yet, in fact I was feeling oddly energized, and we decided to go down to Incognito and dance the rest of the night away. Cool.
Down we go to the club, the music's loud and good, we drink a bit more, and start to get our groove on... it felt like the pair of us really owned that dance floor. You know how it is - in these things, what with everyone being so crowded, you end up stepping on a number of feet... and there was this girl next to where we were dancing that I might've stepped on a number of times. And every time I did so, I apologised -- I made a point of telling the girl how sorry I was for stomping her with my exquisite moves...
Naturally, thinking that this girl was Portuguese (she kinda looked like it, but in hindsight, maybe not that much...), I apologised in my mother tongue - Portuguese.
Anyway, some time later I'm still on the dance floor, but for some reason - maybe I was tired, maybe I didn't like whatever was being played - I stopped dancing for a while, and took to the opportunity to drink a few sips of my beer, and shortly thereafter I notice that the girl had rested her head on my shoulder and was happily on her way to dreamland. I tapped her on her shoulder, and she opened her very blue eyes and looked at me. I said something to her, I don't know what, maybe something like 'Are you ok?, or whatever.
She looked at me and said that I didn't have to keep apologising. And this she said in English.
Ok, fair enough, but she still looked like she was Portuguese to me, and as such I asked her why she was talking to me in English. Of course, I asked her this in Portuguese.
And she says, she says 'I don't understand a word of Portuguese', in a very slurred manner, like people who are very drunk are wont to.
Oh, ok. Really? So I asked her where she's from, and she tells me that she's from Austria, and that she was here on vacation and that she'd go back home in a couple of days. Sure. I relay all this to my friend, and tell her that at least there was someone there drunker than we were... and with this in my mind, I tell the Austrian girl that she'd be better off if she started drinking huge amounts of water like right then and there, or she was bound to have a very nasty hangover come morning. To which she replies, 'why are you trying to kiss me?'
Huh... I wasn't, I was just telling her what she ought to do, but whatever. I repeat this to her, and she says, 'don't you want to kiss me?'
Wait, what? Where did this come from? What the hell? I asked her for her name - it was either Isabel or Isobell, one of them - and told her that what she needs is water, not smooching in the dark of the club with a complete stranger... And then she asks me, blue eyes and blonde hair poised in seductive mode, 'do you know how old I am?', and I reply, actually thinking about it and looking hard at her, 'I dunno. Maybe twenty-one, twenty-two, tops?'
'I'm eighteen', says she. What? Jesus fuck. 'Get out of here', I said jokingly, 'You can't be eighteen'. Now it was her turn to take a long look at me, and with some petulance in her voice, she said 'why doesn't anyone believe me? I am eighteen!'
Right. Eighteen. Sure. She took me by my hand and takes me to the dance floor. 'Let's dance', she said. Yeah, let's not... I told her that she really had to take it a bit easier, and start drinking water, to go to her friends who were there as well, that's the best thing she could do right then. In all honesty, I do not know if she did any of what I told her, because I left shortly afterwards -- my friend was starting to feel a bit down and out, and I myself wasn't feeling that hot anymore... we shared a cab back home, and on the way I told this exact same story to my friend, who'd been a bit abandoned while I talked to the crazy drunken Austrian teenager.
Still, one hell of a night, all in all, and it does please me to notice that some things are changing, and changing for the better.
Down we go to the club, the music's loud and good, we drink a bit more, and start to get our groove on... it felt like the pair of us really owned that dance floor. You know how it is - in these things, what with everyone being so crowded, you end up stepping on a number of feet... and there was this girl next to where we were dancing that I might've stepped on a number of times. And every time I did so, I apologised -- I made a point of telling the girl how sorry I was for stomping her with my exquisite moves...
Naturally, thinking that this girl was Portuguese (she kinda looked like it, but in hindsight, maybe not that much...), I apologised in my mother tongue - Portuguese.
Anyway, some time later I'm still on the dance floor, but for some reason - maybe I was tired, maybe I didn't like whatever was being played - I stopped dancing for a while, and took to the opportunity to drink a few sips of my beer, and shortly thereafter I notice that the girl had rested her head on my shoulder and was happily on her way to dreamland. I tapped her on her shoulder, and she opened her very blue eyes and looked at me. I said something to her, I don't know what, maybe something like 'Are you ok?, or whatever.
She looked at me and said that I didn't have to keep apologising. And this she said in English.
Ok, fair enough, but she still looked like she was Portuguese to me, and as such I asked her why she was talking to me in English. Of course, I asked her this in Portuguese.
And she says, she says 'I don't understand a word of Portuguese', in a very slurred manner, like people who are very drunk are wont to.
Oh, ok. Really? So I asked her where she's from, and she tells me that she's from Austria, and that she was here on vacation and that she'd go back home in a couple of days. Sure. I relay all this to my friend, and tell her that at least there was someone there drunker than we were... and with this in my mind, I tell the Austrian girl that she'd be better off if she started drinking huge amounts of water like right then and there, or she was bound to have a very nasty hangover come morning. To which she replies, 'why are you trying to kiss me?'
Huh... I wasn't, I was just telling her what she ought to do, but whatever. I repeat this to her, and she says, 'don't you want to kiss me?'
Wait, what? Where did this come from? What the hell? I asked her for her name - it was either Isabel or Isobell, one of them - and told her that what she needs is water, not smooching in the dark of the club with a complete stranger... And then she asks me, blue eyes and blonde hair poised in seductive mode, 'do you know how old I am?', and I reply, actually thinking about it and looking hard at her, 'I dunno. Maybe twenty-one, twenty-two, tops?'
'I'm eighteen', says she. What? Jesus fuck. 'Get out of here', I said jokingly, 'You can't be eighteen'. Now it was her turn to take a long look at me, and with some petulance in her voice, she said 'why doesn't anyone believe me? I am eighteen!'
Right. Eighteen. Sure. She took me by my hand and takes me to the dance floor. 'Let's dance', she said. Yeah, let's not... I told her that she really had to take it a bit easier, and start drinking water, to go to her friends who were there as well, that's the best thing she could do right then. In all honesty, I do not know if she did any of what I told her, because I left shortly afterwards -- my friend was starting to feel a bit down and out, and I myself wasn't feeling that hot anymore... we shared a cab back home, and on the way I told this exact same story to my friend, who'd been a bit abandoned while I talked to the crazy drunken Austrian teenager.
Still, one hell of a night, all in all, and it does please me to notice that some things are changing, and changing for the better.
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