Morning Frost

I'd just like to take a moment to welcome my new son to the world. Frost Heath Cooper, 9lb 1oz. So far, so good.

Tags: clamatius, family

A War on Scams

What if there really was no need for much - or even most - of the Cold War? What if, in fact, the Cold War had been kept alive for two decades based on phony WMD threats?

What if, similarly, the War On Terror was largely a scam, and the administration was hyping it to seem larger-than-life? What if our "enemy" represented a real but relatively small threat posed by rogue and criminal groups well outside the mainstream of Islam? What if that hype was done largely to enhance the power, electability, and stature of George W. Bush and Tony Blair?

And what if the world was to discover the most shocking dimensions of these twin deceits - that the same men promulgated them in the 1970s and today?

Pretty provocative stuff. And before you write this off as just more fringe rambling, it's actually a 3-hour BBC documentary largely about the neocon and Islamist movements entitled "The Power of Nightmares" (aired October 2004). You can find the actual show via the first link, but if you just want to read the transcript, that's here.

Tags: politics, war on terror

Blair's Britain

Seems that authoritarianism has got completely out of hand now back in Britain. The scary thing is that Blair and co. appear to be the "good guys" compared with the nutcases in the Tory party.

Americans, take note - it can happen here too. Admittedly, it's a little harder due to constitutional protections against unjust search and seizure.

The quote that springs to mind is Hermann Gőring's:

Naturally, the common people don't want war ... but after all it is the leaders of a country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country.

The Nazis were a bunch of evil, crazy bastards - but sadly for humanity, smart.

Tags: politics, british politics