As the tumbleweed rolls past the Sinister list, an autumnal feel seems to have descended on the world. September's always like this. Very little happens. Even time can't be bothered to get out of bed at this time of year. People are getting used to being back at work, or back at school, after the holidays; the weather's dull and grey, and only going to get worse; sports clubs are all in pre-season training, waiting for the fun bit to start; and no-one's going out because all the money was spent on holidays. There isn't even anything good on the telly yet. The only activities going on are planning work / events / etc for the coming months. It takes the start of the university terms for people to start appearing again, ready to have a good time. I've not even touched a drop of alcohol all month (probably the longest time I've gone without drinking since I was about 15). It feels like life's on hold. And all the while, a mad egotistical dictator, detested by the rest of the world and by most of his own country, continues to build up his armies of suppression and weapons of mass destruction, intent on destroying other people's lives. But enough about George Bush. Actually, not quite enough about him, since I notice Stuart Murdoch (collective gasp as an attempt at content is revealed...) talking about Iraq in his latest diary entry at http://www.banchory.net/belleandsebastian/. Yet another person to add to the list of people who think the inevitable attack on Iraq is ridiculous (as opposed to, erm, not a single person I've spoken to who thinks it's a good idea). Unfortunately, much of the media reporting has been very poor (with the usual exception of the excellent Robert Fisk in The Independent - his articles alone make the paper worth buying, or at least reading on the internet...). Some of the points which seem to have been ignored: 1. Twice as many people have been killed by the American-led actions in Afghanistan as were killed in the WTC attacks (but that doesn't matter, because they're not American, right?) 2. The USA and Britain both have shedloads of weapons of mass destruction (but we're allowed to, right?) 3. When the weapons inspectors were thrown out of Iraq for spying for Israel and the CIA, they were actually spying for Israel and the CIA, as subsequently admitted by the chief inspector (but the fact that the places the US bombed a couple of years ago all happened to have just been visited by the weapons inspectors was a coincidence, right?) 4. Israel has nuclear weapons, and has ignored just as many UN resolutions as Iraq, and persecutes people living in it, and is currently illegally occupying another country (but you're not allowed to criticise Israeli policies, because if you do, you must be anti-semitic, right? Just like anyone who disagrees with US government policies must hate all Americans and the whole notion of freedom and democracy, right???) I could go on all night, but I'd better stop before I start punching the keyboard in frustration... Of course, the fact that I'm criticising the US means that the American spy-bases in Britain will intercept and read this email to check it out. Probably at the base that we're not supposed to know about at Menwith Hill in North Yorkshire. In fact, just to make sure, I'll say "Do the world a favour, assassinate George Bush". And all that in an email which says Sinister in the title. I look forward to the CIA turning up at the next B&S gig with sub-machineguns to investigate our extremist cult. That'll be some interesting publicity... I can just imagine the band being interrogated: CIA - "Tell us all you know, we won't let you go until you admit to your plans to take over the world" Stuart Murdoch - "Och, I don't know what you're talking about, we're just a band, you know?" CIA - "You can't fool us. We've been monitering you for months. Your internet propaganda, the mysterious disappearance of the twee, peace-loving Isobel..." Stuart Murdoch - "She left of her own accord. We couldn't have someone in the band who didn't like travelling around America. Oops, shouldn't have said that..." CIA - "Ah! So you admit it then. And we know all about the coded messages in 'The Boy With The Arab Strap'. And we're sure 'Shoot The Sexual Athlete' is about a plot to kill Bill Clinton." Stuart David - "This is pish, I'm leaving." Of course, it's not always so easy to see the 'right path' to take. I'm currently giving serious consideration to doing some volunteer teaching in Nepal this time next year. But I can't decide which is morally more important: teaching the young to help them develop, so that they can get better jobs in the future; or preserving their traditional culture, which has lasted hundreds of years and is in many ways better than ours (such as its peacefulness and lack of emphasis on money), but is being destroyed by Western influences? If you educate, you are necessarily changing their culture and making it more similar to our own. But it alleviates poverty. But poverty only means a lack of money, when there is so much more to life than that. What is a free-thinking liberal to do? Big Stu +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister@missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo@missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ "sick posse of f**ked in the head psycho-fans" - NME June 2001 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-+ Snipp snapp snut, sa var sagan slut! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+