Of Law and Blah

The White Man's Burden

An imperialist poet named Kipling wrote a poem in 1899 called "The White Man's Burden". It was the ultimate justification for the rape of Africa and the conquering of Asia. Because 'we know best, don't we?' And yes, read the serious post. Selected extracts of the poem:

"Take up the White Man's burden--
Send forth the best ye breed--"



"Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half-devil and half-child."



"Take up the White Man's burden--
And reap his old reward:
The blame of those ye better,
The hate of those ye guard--"



"Take up the White Man's burden--
Ye dare not stoop to less--"
This is the most insidious of all, it makes my bowels churn. A dictator takes over a country, fights beligerent wars and slaughters for power's sake... Do we not have the duty to fight for them? Is it not below us to let them be? How do we know when it is altruism or paternalism or a poor excuse for exploitation?

Perhaps they are the same.

The white man's burden has nothing to do with race, not biologically anyway. Condoleeza Rice is guilty of it. Today it might be called "the Man in Tie's Burden". It began with the Romans, and their own missions to civilize Gaul and Britain. It reached its ultimate form in the 19th century by the conquest of the rest of world by Europe, in order to free, civilize and modernize.


The Soviets flee Afganistan

The soviets were extraordinarily guilty of it as well. Their invasion of Afganistan and their whole presumptious ideology that ALL HISTORY OF ALL MAN was the same as the white man's are typical. Even more typical is that, they arent racist or emotional about it, they simply don't acknowledge the possibility of the validity or worth of non-white man thought. It doesn't even OCCUR to them.


Mr. Fukuyama, not your average ideologue, but still guilty

In Iraq today, we have our own White Man's Burden. Because we know best, don't we? Mr Fukuyama has been hard at work creating our own ideology claiming to understand all men, all human societies, their history and their future. We have our own ideology of democracy, freedom fries and most importantly, OUR WAY. How do we know if we are being "good" or if we're just forcing what we think is right upon them? Whether its imperialist, communist or liberal, its all the same:
We assume we know how they are and we treat them like children. In reality, they are as alien to us as we are to them. We are children as well, all men are children, we are the children with the guns.

10 Don'ts

I'm tired of to do lists. Here's a don't list.

10. Don't be Italian



9. Don't get caught playing dorky card games



8. Don't mess with Wyatt's cat



7. Don't bother



6. Don't be a prick



5. I SAID..



4. Don't get things backward



3. Don't do drugs



2. Don't be on the wrong side of the creek



1. Don't f*** with girls

CIV fotos: an illustration of the french education system

Here are various pics. Mostly from CIV or CIV people, a surprising look at the french educational system. Oh, and steven (BTW very few of the fotos here are shopped!)The Brits among you can take a rare view of the French System.

The educational system is robust given what it has to cope with.



International Centre of Violence? This photo of 2 teens within the CIV was taken quickly and secretly before fleeing the scene.



You can never be too safe in regards to the science lab.



Despite appearances, many people here are extremely friendly.



The school has found innovative solutions to the problem of having no more friggin money because the twits bought a weird looking statue vaguely reminiscent of a bench.



As ominous Wyatt, Fabio, William and Marylison/Nina here show, the system churns out cheerfull and wholesome individuals after being processed.

Fine I give in, fam and friend fotos

Because SOMEBODY (who shall remain nameless) has been nagging me so much I've decided to post some fam and friend pics. And remember please EMAIL ME fotos so I can post you as well!

Gran and Arthur pose after a nice stroll around the main Liverpuddlian Cathedral (yes, its catholic):



My bros Kevin and Steven on a ski trip a while back.



Mary-lore enjoying herself at some party:



More to come!

Facial Hair Through the Ages

Few things are as important in remembering a man then how he cut his chin.

God set the trend a few years back. Lots of facial hair is definitely in for the foreseeable future.



The Egyptians pioneered the chin art.



Others focused more on the upper lip so as to say "ooh look at me, I've got a fancy hat"



Many attribute the rise and fall of communism simply to their failure to maintain the appeal, diversity, innovatiness and size of their hairum facium.



Some have taken it to the next level, to its logical and perfectible conclusion.



Much like other arts, hobbies and sports there has clearly been some relaxation of the term "facial" in recent years, to the detriment of some veterans.



But no one will be able to deny the eternal appeal, wonder and delight of, uh, beards.

Assault on Fallujah and French in Ivory Coat

Now that Bush has passed the election with flying colours and the French puppet president wannabe has been soundly defeated



It hasn't taken long to get back down to the patriotic buisness of killing rad-heads.

Bush is spending considerable amounts of time comparing to other succesful combat operations Americans are familiar with.



Meanwhile the French are fighting their own war in Cote d'Ivoire. They lost 8 men and retaliated by destroying the entire Ivorian air force consisting of



Well they got ALL of them, anyway.

And I would like to remind everyone that if we're going to kill 5K people in Fallujah its because they were dangerous, ya know?



Or was it the freedom thing?



Oh what the hay, those terrorists are going down!



Because we ALL know what this is REALLY about:

Bismarck: Overweight Craut Bully

Not many people know about Bismarck anymore. Long story short, he made the Kingdom of Prussia (Which occupied today's northern Germany, most of Poland and some Rhineland) go from the smallest Great Power, to the strongest by annexing the rest of Germany. He comes across as a stern general-type guy. He was the Prime-minister of Prussia and first Chancellor of Imperial Germany.



Yep, a stern guy, apparently. He liked to dress up in military uniform, act like a Junker (Prussian Nobility) and generally be loud and obnoxious.



Stern civilian too.



Grr! Just look at those boots. Smashing. See a pattern?



One of his more flattering portraits



Many only know Bismarck through the famous battleship named after him. Its a favourite for modelers, u know painting and building miniBismarck ships (what nerds)

Despite his tough-guy appearance, army uniforms, junkerhood, catholic/socialist oppression and single-handedly responsible for the 1st of 3 rapes of France, Bismarck was a big fat softie. You can tell by his puffy puppy eyes. He would burst into tears and break China have long arguments with his King.



Do not listen to the myth! Yes, Bismarck would fuck you over if he had the change, but who's he kidding with his "grrr" look? Overweight craut softie is more like it.