Sunday, May 23
On An Enlightened Anti-American Tip
I'm not quite sure why, but I was online this evening with fuck all to do, and I started going through a load of my Favourites menu, specifically the ones I shelve under News > Analysis and News > Press Freedom. These included FAIR, Common Dreams and CounterPunch.
These are all fairly non-political in their stance, on a left-right scale, but campaign for press freedom and greater transparency in the entire political and media reporting processes. Basically, they highlight a shitload of hypocrisy in both fields, but also draw together the best commentators and columnists from across the web to one easy portal.
Obviously, the single biggest topic for discussion at the moment is Iraq, and specifically the photos of abuse coming from the Abu Ghraib prison. I read a few articles by various authors, generally bemoaning the occupation and the war overall. Nothing I hadn't read a hundred times in the daily newspapers over the past year.
What was particularly interesting, however, was stumbling across a link to the New Yorker magazine's website. The New Yorker magazine, for those unaware, was the first to break the news of the photos, and is now the first publication to produce evidence that the abuse was not due to (as the official line goes) the actions of a few bad eggs. It was apparently part of a much bigger plan, created by Rumsfeld and known of by Bush.
Yes, it sounds like a gloriously convenient conspiracy theory, but it seems pretty well backed-up by evidence. Have a read of the article here, but be warned, it's a very long and heavy article. Definitely a worthwhile read though. Else, read the much shorter summary of it here and a profile of the author here.
I also found my way to AdBusters Magazine, and specifically this page, which is a look back at US military action in the past two hundred years. Again, it's very long, but is definitely worth reading. It's quite worrying just how much positive and pre-emptive action has been taken by the world's most powerful country, even in the past 25 years.
And yes, this is what I do with my Saturday nights at the moment. I told you, I'm not drinking for a while. Well, not until this Friday, at any rate.
Before I alienate any American readers that I have (if I have any), let me say that I'm not a purely anti-US Briton. I just thoroughly disagree with a hell of a lot of this current administration's policies, be they domestic (Patriot Act, anyone?) or international (where do I start?). I know too many American people, hell I even lived with one for a year, to be so naive as to think that you are all the stereotypical ultra-conservative, god-fearing and (supposedly) morally righteous people that you are often portrayed as.
It's just that you have ultra-conservative, god-fearing and supposedly morally righteous people in charge at the moment.
And here ends my first political post in a while. I do have very strong political feelings and opinions all the time, but I generally choose not to post about them here, because they are simply not as interesting to write (and thus to read) about as, say, walking home drunk with "cunt" written on your forehead and not knowing about it.
Speaking of which, I am going to get so very, very, very drunk this Friday that I could quite possibly be hospitalised this time next Saturday. It's my last exam, I'm allowed to cut loose! Or so I will be telling myself as I near unconsciousness on Friday night.
Although on current form it could very well be Friday afternoon. I think I have figured out just why that has been happening: I have come to the conclusion that I am not eating anywhere near enough food at the moment. I seem to have a quick breakfast when I get up, a couple of rounds of toast or similar, and then pretty much nothing until around 7 in the evening, when I make myself a half-decent dinner.
I should in theory be eating 2,500 calories per day, but I reckon I've been closer to 1,000 or 1,500 for the past 10 days. And it's not even as if I need to lose weight! Whilst not exactly ultra-skinny, I don't have a gut and am nowhere near overweight. My BMI (Yes, I checked my own BMI. No, I'm not gay) has been hovering around 20-21 for a couple of years now, which is perfectly healthy.
It's this lack of food in my stomach, and the consequential lack of energy in my system which is leading me to being unable to concentrate on revising, and perhaps more importantly, to falling asleep in the early evening for 14 hours after only 5 or 6 beers.
Tomorrow thus becomes the first day in "Eat Loads of Food Week" for me. If anyone wishes to order me lots of food from Sainsbury's or Tesco's online, please email me for my delivery address. I am a poor student, don't you know? He says, having just bought Gooneruk.com and the first 6 series of Buffy on DVD. Stupid boy Rob.
Of course, eating will have to take priority over revision. I've only got one more exam to go, and it is my favourite subject from the four modules I do, so hopefully working up the enthusiasm to do it won't be too difficult. At least it won't be as difficult to get going as I found revising for the Criminology exam. I just didn't start revising for that one.
Speaking of concentrating for a decent amount of time, I was talking with one of my housemates and his girlfriend earlier about how I think I have some form of physical ADD. I can't remember if I've mentioned this here before, so I'm going to talk about it anyway.
Whilst I can concentrate for (literally) hours on doing something, be it an exam, in the cinema, HTML coding, or whatever task it might be, I cannot sit still. Honestly, I last about 3 minutes in one position before I have to shift my weight or (un)cross my legs or fiddle with my glasses or crack my fingers or just do something!
I must be the worst person to sit next to in the cinema, because I'm constantly putting my weight on one shoulder and then the other, or slouching and then sitting bolt upright. I don't know what it is, especially seeing as my mind can concentrate for so long. And no, I can't be arsed going for tests, because if you do that you inevitably end up paying someone to be told that there's nothing they can do about it.
I'll cope. I'm just concerned that people who sit next to me won't.
And yet again, I start typing on one subject and end up rambling on about 50 other things that spring to mind whilst I'm in the middle of writing. I rule.