A man being stoned to death in Somalia.

This female was raped, then accused of adultery and stoned to death.

Friends, both Reuters and Al Jazeera have carried the story of a couple who were stoned to death in Iran in accordance with Islamic Sharia law. Apparently both of them were engaged to other people but were said to have committed adultery with each other.

In case you didn’t know, stoning involves each person being buried to the waste or neck and then the brave executioners pelt them with large rocks until they are dead (see images).

Of course, this primitive method of punishing those considered to be wrongdoers has been around for thousands of years. Ironically, in many parts of the Muslim world there are people who want strict Sharia law to be reinstated. The Taliban is one group who are active in this area.

While we in the Western world are rightfully horrified by this cruel, barbaric behaviour, consider the use of wonderful innovations like the electric chair and the lethal injection carried out by those in Christian countries. Who are we to point the finger at anyone else?

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Friends, if you’ve been following the world headlines lately, you couldn’t help but notice that floods are occurring in many countries, floods which exceed all previous records. In Pakistan, 21 million people have been displaced and many crops destroyed (see above photos from Reuters). Enormous mudslides have occurred and many people have no food or shelter.

In places like China and South America, it is the same story. At the same time, in Russia, droughts have occurred along with fires. The choking smoke from the fires has brought Moscow to a halt and the effect of the droughts on grain crops has forced Russia to cancel its grain exports. Heat waves have been occurring in the U.S. along with twisters, etc, and so the story of weather-related calamities goes on and on with increasing incidence and severity.

When climate change was first noted, the world did seem to get a shock and many people were determined to bring about change in the use of fossil fuels. Then, when it became obvious that such a change would force us to change our ways and cost us money, the enthusiasm seemed to dissipate.

The climate change conference in Copenhagen turned out to be a colossal failure and soon after the world largely went back to the old ways. Even in Australia, a carbon-pricing scheme, one that would have made the major polluters to pay for the damage they cause, was shelved for three years (although there has been some encouragement for wind and solar technologies).

But, in the main, the oil and coal usage has continued as has exploration for these environment-damaging products.

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“because, if you grease my palm, I can foretell your future!”

“because, if you donate enough, I can promise you eternal life!”

“because, for a modest fee, I can read your stars.”

“because, if you vote for me, I will lead you to peace and prosperity!”

Friends, ever since humans were humans there have been those who, seeing how gullible humans are,  have appointed themselves as seers, psychics, representatives of mythical gods, magicians, or as great leaders. They have adopted many guises and gimmicks to try to lend credence to their claims. All have promised things and said things they know are false.

The truth is that no one can promise eternal life. No one can see into the future. Magic is illusory. And peace, because of  the deep flaws in human nature and intelligence, will never become a reality.

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Friends, humans have, ever since their time began, been fearful of many things. Sabre-tooth tigers and woolly mammoths and giant snakes among them to say nothing of plagues and famines.

But humans have also been frightened of unseen things too, non-material, imaginary things like the Devil and ghosts and vampires and hell and Nosferatu (see above). Yes, from back in time until recently, humans of all ages shivered in their beds fearing a knock at the door or, worse still, a sudden appearance from the midnight shadows of a horror which might take them away or fill them with madness or drink their blood.

There are still places in the world where superstition reigns supreme but, in the main, people have given up these primitive fears and live lives with no more worries than a late mortgage or credit card repayment. Or have they?

A few days ago, Fidel Castro gave a short talk. In it he pleaded with President Obama not to nuke Iran. Fidel said that such an act would precipitate retaliation which might also be nuclear, retaliation which might involve the coming together of Muslim Nations to oppose the threat which America poses to the entire Muslim world.

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IS NOT:

more weapons, more cars, more televisions, more shares, more wars, more corporations, more clerics, more pharmaceuticals, more breast implants, more politicians, more sport, more sexual deviancy, more space exploration, more porno movies, more violent video games, more banks, more lawyers, more drugs, more conceit, more childcare centres, more nightclubs, more prostitutes, more mines, more oil,  more newspapers, more shockjocks, more policemen, more psychologists, more chemists, more supermarkets…

What the world really desperately needs is lots and lots more…

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Friends, we have a Federal Election going on in Australia and the media is on fire as they carry the latest poll results, the latest gossip and all the gaffes. Those who comment on politics are having a field day and many of them, filled with conceit, actually tell their viewers and readers what to think.

I don’t know about where you live but in my country the media, in the main, is owned by Media Barons amongst whom Rupert Murdoch is prominent (as  is the Packer Empire). Murdoch owns many newspapers and has interests in television as well so it’s difficult to avoid the bias that he brings. What bias, you ask?

Well obviously, Murdoch is primarily a businessman and, as such, his main preoccupation is profit and to achieve that he has media bases all around the world (much like America has military bases). So what, you say! It’s a free world.

Let me urge you to forget the old idea that the media should be presenting the facts and allowing the readers or viewers to make up their own  mind about issues. That time has long gone!

No, as a businessman, Murdoch and other Media Barons want to see elected a pro-business party because they know they will make more money if such a government is in power. As well, such a party will have a sympathetic ear to lobbyists from large corporations be they in media, mining, tobacco, making armaments, alcohol, pharmaceuticals, etc,. And such a party will typically favour lower taxes for businesses and the rich.

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They might as well have sent the office boy!

Friends, for the first time, the U.S. has sent a representative to the Hiroshima memorial service held for the 140,000+ civilians killed when the world’s first atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city in 1945.

They sent the U.S. Ambassador to Japan, John Roos, who, in the political hierarchy of America, is a minor player. The photograph shows him, in his ill-fitting suit, standing alone among the Japanese. He looks like an undertaker.

65 years have passed and, scandalously, those who developed and dropped the bomb have hitherto refused to acknowledge their terrible deed and its ramifications.

Ironically, in a few days time, another service will be held for those who died in Nagasaki when another atomic bomb, one using a different mechanism which the military was anxious to test, was dropped there. Over 60,000+ died in that attack (although accurate figures, as with Hiroshima, are difficult to find given that many people were vaporized).

Of course, those who were killed initially do not take into account those who died later from burns or radioactivity and it takes no account of the deformed births that resulted from the twin bombings decades later.

“For the sake of future generations, we must continue to work together to realize a world without nuclear weapons,” U.S. Ambassador John Roos said in a bland statement.

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An injured Lebanese soldier being rushed to hospital!

In Karachi, the city is locked down!

Friends, four news items from Reuters and Al Jazeera caught my attention today. One was the flare up on the Israeli-Lebanon border which claimed a number of lives including one Israeli officer, one journalist and three Lebanese soldiers. Others were wounded.

It seems that the Israelis cut down a tree which the Lebanese claim was on their side of the border. Shelling began, and before long a firefight was in progress. Each side blamed the other.

The U.N. and the U.S. are urging restraint but the situation is potentially volatile. Worryingly, this incident, unusually, was between the Lebanese Army and Israel. Hezbollah wasn’t involved.

Another incident I noted was the killing of 45 people and the wounding of over a 100 others in Karachi in Pakistan by gunmen who raged through the capital. The army had to be brought in to lock-down the city and ensure that people remained at home. The gunmen, who came from various militias, were protesting the death of a politician who they supported.

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This was the extent of the damage when a Hamas rocket hit Ashkelon.

Israeli retaliation killed a Hamas Commander and wounded many.

Issa Batran, a rocket maker, was blown to pieces when the IDF paid him a visit and fired a missile at his caravan. His crime? A rocket was fired into Israel which broke some glass, damaged a couple of vehicles, but injured no one.

The Israelis, while they were assassinating Issa, also used their American warplanes to fire at a Hamas training camp and some smuggling tunnels injuring other Palestinians.

Friends, Issa Batran was an unlucky man. First of all, he was born a Palestinian. Next, he lived his whole life under brutal Israeli occupation and/or siege.

Then, when Israel carried out its genocide on Gaza the Xmas before last, the IDF killed his wife and all his children along with more than 1,400 other Palestinians (the IDF lost only 9 soldiers). Perhaps that’s what motivated Issa to fire a rocket at Israel. Perhaps he was also upset that Gaza is still under siege. We will never know the true reason.

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