All Points North

It’s not often that Hitler can make you smile.

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Hitler

A soldier was abducted. The first “Great War’ began after the Arch Duke was assassinated and the various countries took advantage to launch a land grab. The second ‘World War’ began because of an out and out land grab. These wars began over land the next won’t be over oil or water as people thought. I will begin because of an ideology alone. Nothing as substantial as a mad man desperate to build an empire or a political desire to control the countries surrounding their own.

Hezbollah isn’t a nation state, it isn’t a power broker, it isn’t a political party as those who participate in the democratic process would understand it. Hezbollah is an idea, a mythology. If you destroy its leaders others simply step up to fill the gap made.

There is no military solution to Hezbollah as they don’t sit in trenches or have rules of engagement. Up to last night they had killed thirty Israelis by firing rockets into Israel. By Syrian accounts the Israeli army had killed ten times that amount. A figure you’d expect given that the Israeli army is well funded, trained and has the most modern military equipment available.

So with no military solution the only answer is occupation. The Syrians aren’t going to stop Hezbollah as they broadly agree with what they stand for. The Israelis will use their power to defend at all costs their citizens. This will be the pretence for an all out invasion taking Israel back to an occupation of Lebanon along roughly the same lines as where they were before they pulled out in 2000.

With America stretched and Iran building more and more capable long range weapons it might not be such a good move.

The large groups of terrorists that are in Iraq right now would be mobilised and motivated and the entire occupied area of Lebanon would become a blood bath. Syria, emboldened by the success would be drawn in. The anti-western rhetoric would be dialled up and the situation in Iraq would become worse and worse. The US will be forced to start fighting a war rather than the ‘Police action’ it’s currently running.

Syria will disintegrate into civil war and drag both the US and the Israel in to a much larger conflict. Iran will take the opportunity to flood it fighters into Iraq to ‘Protect’ it’s middle eastern brothers and from there it’s anybody’s guess. Israel will contend (by shouting very loudly at news reporters) that it’s protecting its people and their right to live by denying others theirs. The other countries will say much the same. The US can’t pull out Iraq unless there’s a new president and if it does it’ll have to be to defend Israel.

The middle east has always been unstable but right now it’s on the thinnest of thin ice. Does anyone remember the name of the abducted soldier?

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World War Three, Israel, Syria, US, Iraq, Iran, Hezbollah

Does anyone want to buy a classic camera? I have a Canon F1 35mm SLR that I’m not using anymore so make me an offer and I’ll ship it worldwide. It’s in good condition and works flawlessly. It comes with a 50mm f1.4 lens and there’s a 35mm optic to go with it as well. More info on the camera here

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Canon F1, For Sale, 35mm SLR camera

*** Spoiler ***

Superman Returns was interesting more than it was an all action packed blockbuster. There were a few things that really hurt the film. Number one was the constant ‘here’s where we’re making plot lines for episode two, three, four and five’

Number two was the ‘Superman as Jesus as saviour of America scenes’ He (Superman) was referred to as a saviour a couple of times and the references to the ‘do we need Superman’ ‘why we don’t need Superman’ articles that end up with the ‘why we need Superman’ are clearly about belief.

The cherry on the cake, though, is when Superman has pushed the new world out into space (cue episode four plot line) and he begins to fall back to earth. Having saved the world (oops sorry America) Superman adopts a crucifix position, arms outstretched, feet together, head back. He falls to Earth and seemingly dies only to rise again having disappeared when a nurse comes to see him.

It’s not a bad film but I wish they’d had the balls to make a movie that didn’t keep gently whispering ‘remember the franchise’ every ten minutes.

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Superman returns

One thing I also notice is that in California smoking isn’t allowed. Anywhere. Most geeks that I know don’t smoke. So, are we going to move somewhere that smoking is allowed everywhere? No.

I’ll never live in a smoking-allowed area again. Many geeks get really turned off by the smoking culture. Yeah, I know there are lots of geeks who smoke too, but they are only about 20%, even in Europe where it seems everyone smokes.

Erm… Sorry but it’s got nothing to do with ciggies and everything to do with history and money. Like Deep Throat always said ‘follow the money’ The reason the tech world is still centered around the Valley is because that’s where the cash is. Venture Capitalists made buckets of money in tech which in turn attracted more start-ups and more venture capitalists. A cycle that will continue until the money goes elsewhere. This is unlikely to be an overnight shift and it may never happen but the reason geeks and money lenders move to the valley is because that’s where the infrastructure and the means of making more cash from tech is at its most mature. If all the money men and ladies took to sitting in a Parisian temple to dole out their cash while chain smoking Gauloises thoughtlessly blowing smoke into geeks faces that’s where the geeks would be. All that’d be left in the valley would be the non-smoking and pennyless.

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Robert Scoble, Europe, smoking, silicon valley