Sinister: exterminate all the brutes

[Dirty Vicar]

hello there,

I am going to begin with a bit of politics. If you are bored with such
things, skip on to the end where my old friend and quaffing partner Mad King
Ken tells us how he got on at B&S' recent concert in San Francisco.

Like Mr Purple Trousers, I was interested by Big Stu's comments on Tibet. I
can't claim to be an expert on the Tibetan situation, but I do think that
his conclusions are based on some shaky assumptions:

i) that Chinese rule has been good for Tibet

This is at best debatable. In any case, my suspicion is that most Tibetans
would rather be in charge of their own destiny rather than have to defer to
some apparatchik appointed by the Beijing junta.

ii) that it's alright to invade countries if they have regimes you find
reprehensible.

This is what we might call the Bush doctrine. Now, I'm not saying that a
theocratic Tibet ruled by monks would be an ideal state, but the idea that
mass-murderer Mao Zedong and his heirs are somehow fit to be lecturing other
people on how to run their country is not overly convincing.

iii) that it's alright to invade countries who have only been independent
for forty years or less.

My own country had been independent for less than forty years when China
invaded Tibet, so I find this view rather objectionable.

I do kind of agree, though, that there is a certain so-whatness to being in
favour of a Free Tibet. The complicity of the West in Tibet's subjugation is
fairly minimal, given that China is one of the few independent countries
left outside the Anglo-American orbit. OK, so you could say that by trading
with China we are assisting Tibet's occupation, but if you didn't trade with
human rights abusing countries then you wouldn't trade with anyone.

A comparison with the occupation of Palestine is instructive. The Israeli
state is heavily bankrolled by the USA, allowing it to spend American tax
dollars to kill Palestinian children. The UK and Germany lend Israel
important diplomatic support. The EU generally has cravenly declined to
invoke the human rights clauses of its trade treaty with Israel. So if you
live in Europe or the USA then, thanks to your government, you (like me) are
kind of complicit in the slow mass murder of Palestinians. This is not good.

Moving along from politics, I was in London last weekend at Carsmile Steve's
birthday and wedding anniversary party, where I had fun. I met MarkH who
affected not to recognise me because my hair is a bit shaggy at the moment.
I also met other people (like the Finefox) who seemed to know who I was.

It's amazing how hot it is in London. Small wonder that Freikorperkultur is
so popular, with people loafing around in half nothing. I also like the way
you can buy magic mushrooms in shops on Oxford Street. That rocks.

I've booked into a hotel or guesthouse or something in Glasgow for the B&S
gig thing. Someone asserted to me that the place I am staying in is not very
nice in some way, but I can't remember in what way. I hope I am not staying
in the Hotel McStinko.

OK, that's enough of that. Here is Mad King Ken on his concert:

> say them play in the warfield last week. good gig although i was
> standing in front of a really annoying 50+ drunk american hick who kept
> shouting for the 'Boy with the Arab Strap' or to be precise ' Give us
> the Strap' when he wasn't calling out for 'FreeBird'. he then went wild
> when they played 'Sleep the clock around' and fell over bring down a
> couple of friends who were with me. they need to enforce a higher
> quality control of their audiance.

This is all a bit "Stooges", if you ask me.

bless you all,

DV

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