Friends, I have great news to report. According to Al Jazzera today Muntadhar al-Zaidi, who threw his shoes at the moronic George Bush, is to be released on September 14th.

Forget the death of Senator Edward Kennedy, one of the philandering Kennedy brothers! This event is far more important to those of us who hope for a better world.

This thirty year old man, knowing the risks, stood up to the most powerful man on the face of the earth, called him a dog, and insulted him in the gravest way he knew by throwing his shoes. Bush, Commander in Chief, will have to carry the image of his cowering before the onslaught of two sneakers for the rest of his miserable days.

Muntadhar was arrested, beaten, thrown into jail then, after many months, was sentenced to three years in jail. Subsequently this was reduced to one year which was further reduced by good behaviour.

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Friends, this revealing photograph of Bibi Netanyahu was taken on his trip to Europe.

During the trip he was exhorted by the British, the Germans and the French to cease settlement building and to enter into serious negotiations with the Palestinians. This was his veiled response which has been brilliantly captured by an alert photographer.

Now this picture shouldn’t surprise you because he gave the same response to President Obama and to all the Arab Nations which surround his state and to every other nation in the world which deplores Israel’s sixty-occupation of the Palestinian Territories and the brutality and genocide and land-stealing which it has engaged in.

If you look closely at Bibi’s eyes, you’ll note there is a certain cunning in them, that and clear signs of religious insanity (many members of the Knesset and some of the wider Israeli community have similar characteristics).

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If it does, it might be time for

a change of direction.

The Prince of Darkness.

Friends, this man is doing a sweep of Europe at the moment. He is pushing the narrow, bigoted, racist, fanatical religious agenda of the Jewish State.

He is justifying the sixty-year occupation of the Palestinian Territories. He is insisting that all of Jerusalem must be the capital of the Jewish State and evicting Palestinians from it is a legitimate activity.

He demands that Palestinians recognize Israel’s right to exist and that Israel will dictate to them how their token state should it ever come into being (an unlikely prospect) will be run. He insists that their token state should it ever be created be demilitarized and that it should have limited sovereignty.

He states clearly that the illegal settlements won’t be given up by Israel and that they will be expanded at will. He is endeavoring to get international support for an Israeli attack on non-nuclear armed Iran claiming that it threatens nuclear armed Israel.

Importantly, Netanyahu is not saying that an Israeli attack on Iran will throw the whole of the Middle East into a war that could bring about the end of the world.

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Even though our world is filled with darkness,

It can’t extinguish the candlelight of truth.

Why do people choose to live in ugly, polluted, crime-filled cities?

Friends, I’ve come to the conclusion that the world can’t be changed, human nature being what it is. And I’ve also realized that trying to change it yields nothing but stress and frustration which, in turn, can lead to medical problems.

Let’s face it, the Masters of the Universe are holding all the cards. They control the money and they have all the power. We, the people, even the few of us who think, are virtually powerless. Sure we can protest and complain via the internet but big deal! Do you really think the Masters of the Universe care what we say? In their boardrooms, cabinet rooms, war rooms and in luxurious drawing rooms, they set the world agenda to suit themselves.

All we can really do is to change our own little temporal world, make it as secure and peaceful as possible. For example, we can choose to live in a pastoral setting. We can carefully choose our circle of friends and relatives. We can choose our lifestyle. We can choose our partner. We can let as much or as little of the outside world into our own world as we choose (little is obviously better).

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Happiness, like a butterfly, is elusive.

Too often it’s so hard to find.

When you’re happy you feel so effusive,

When you’re not, life is a grind.

This show is purely for entertainment!

Friends, I’m struck by the changing meaning of the word ‘show’. Once it meant entertainment, something like that shown in the image above. Now it is being liberally applied to many aspects of the news.

I’m sure you are all familiar with people like Larry King, Glen Beck, Bill O’reilly, Russ Limbaugh, David Speers, Wolf Blitzer, etc, who conduct ‘shows’ that are supposed to deal with serious world or national problems.

These ‘shows’, if they are examined closely, generally have the following characteristics:

- elaborate sets.

- lots of noise, whirling bright lights and advertisements.

- lots of experts who, on panels, gabble simultaneously thereby becoming incomprehensible.

- lots of experts who present predictable right-wing, capitalist views.

- lots of presenters who deliberately use exaggeration and lies to promote controversy and headlines.

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Soviet Guerrilla Fighters (also known as Resistance or Freedom Fighters).

Friends, in our modern world there are several current situations which involve a David versus Goliath military contest. We have a variety of small countries that have been invaded and occupied by militarily powerful superpowers. The result of such a contest is predictable. Or is it? Thanks to Che, it’s not!

Some time ago, the Russian Goliath invaded and occupied Afghanistan. After many years the Russians withdrew with egg on their faces because, though they had a huge advantage in armaments and military technology, they couldn’t defeat a shadowy, determined guerrilla army who avoided direct confrontation (open warfare) where they would’ve been quickly exterminated.

Instead they used small arms and improvised explosives. They used their knowledge of the local terrain and weather to advantage. They inflicted casualties then withdrew before the superior army could marshal their planes and missiles. The superpower never knew where they would be attacked next and they couldn’t attack such a shadowy enemy because they never knew who they were.

The Palestinians, until they became hopelessly split, had their occupiers seriously worried.

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Friends, I came across this nice image (which, strangely, doesn’t seem to shows any Asian people) the other day and the thought struck me that every day should be International Friendship Day.

Just imagine how the world would be if each person, via the internet, had friends in many or most countries of the world. If that happened, our politicians wouldn’t be able to divide our world into ‘goodies’ and ‘baddies’ so easily.

This would impede their rush to war at the drop of a hat. They couldn’t easily sell us the necessity of war against countries that contained some of our friends.

They couldn’t play on our ignorance about other countries because, through our friends, we would be informed and be able to spot the lies and exaggerations.

And through our connections overseas we would realize that humans are much the same the world over, something that many years of traveling plus time spent living in other countries, has taught me.

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