The fires in California are dying now. Eighteen hundred homes and businesses have been consumed. Many thousands are homeless and a quarter of a million people were evacuated. About one dozen people lost their lives but charred bodies of Mexican immigrants who were camping in the canyons are being discovered. The Federal Emergency Management Agency - FEMA had its faked press conference with employees posing as reporters and then ate humble American pie. But then Hollywood was down the road. A resident star, John Travolta, 'admits he was forced to fly his helicopter over the region to ensure his family were safe'. Arnie, the Governor, visited the fires several times; most recently he raised the likelihood of arson. He promised the forces for right would hunt the perpetrators down. 'Smoking them out' might have seemed tasteless.

This element of nature has been known in these hills for millennia during drought and the sprawl of building into them has risked this disaster. There was a time perhaps when fire was used by the white colonist to drive the North American Indians from their tepees and their caves. Gunfire, fire, smallpox and other imported disease erased twenty million natives from the land of open sky and prairie. The colonist's descendants and the many late comers would not have dwelt on the justice of these acts of God but instead heat gave rise to hyperbole.

Firefighters described scenes of devastation, with one pilot battling fires in San Diego telling his commanders: "It looks like an atom bomb is going off over there," the Los Angeles Times reported. Another firefighter, Mitch Mendler, said the area "was like Armageddon. It looked like the end of the world." Good that a US citizen has had a glimpse of both.

David Halpin considers the hypocrisy of British Minister for International Development Shahid Malik, who whinges at being held by the US authorities while on a trip to the USA but condones state-sponsored Anglo-American aggression.

This minister in the Department of International Development was delayed for 40 minutes at Washington's Dulles airport by security officials whilst his luggage was searched for traces of explosive. He had been at meetings to do with tackling “terrorism”.

The same happened at New York's JFK airport last November when two other Muslims were held aside. On that visit he had been a keynote speaker at an event organized by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), alongside the FBI and Muslim organizations, to talk about tackling extremism and defeating terrorism. The Register of Member's Interests records that his flights and accommodation were paid for by the Pakistan Cultural Association (?where), the FBI and Homeland Security.

David Halpin argues that, under the pretext of “war on terror”, Israel and its allies are practising torture with impunity while the rest of the world looks on.

To inflict severe pain or mental suffering, especially as a punishment or to extract information: Latin – tortura, torment.

On this the 59th anniversary of the International Declaration of Human Rights by the UN one can hear the thuds, splutters and screams in a good many of those united nations. When did man first start applying physical and mental pain to his fellows? I doubt those artists and masons who made the beautiful cave paintings at Lascaux 20,000 years ago did this to neighbouring peoples. No, this expression of the worst in homo 'sapiens' came with political power and religious belief. It has been used more for confession and subjugation perhaps than the extraction of supposed information.

You beat me to it. I was going to write to say 'well done' to you all. I could see the souk was stuffed full and saw easily how much work you had done. The atmosphere and brotherhood was good. I have not much enjoyed 'dabke' before but I enjoyed the three good fellows and Isabel enjoyed learning.

I am happy to speak somewhere/anywhere about 'unconventional weapons'. Stroud in January, Barcelona 2 weeks ago, Guildford last April - latter two to orthopaedic surgeons. In fact these weapons are used widely and they are 'conventional'. My talk and pictures are shocking but we have to shock. Our population is sleeping and the dark will grow if they are not stirred. See below - which I have just sent. A fiery sunrise has quickly gone. A beautiful world being ruined by greed and pure evil when shared it would be even more beautiful.

By David Halpin

http://redress.cc/global/dhalpin20070823
August 23rd, 2007

 

David Halpin takes to task British Foreign Secretary David Miliband for refusing visas to a team of Palestinian footballers due to play a series of matches in England, a refusal which stands in marked contrast to the welcome given to the Israeli national team.

To: David Miliband MP, Secretary of State, Foreign Foreign & Commonwealth, United Kingdom

Copy: Richard Younger-Ross, MP for Teignbridge

Dear Mr Miliband,

Three thousand and one hundred miles by sea from where I write in Devon there is a "Warsaw" ghetto in Gaza. There are other ghettos in the ineptly name West Bank and in the Arab states about. There are three times as many people imprisoned within Gaza as there were in the ghetto constructed by the Third Reich. That existed between 1941 and 1943. The Gaza ghetto and those others filled with Palestinians, were populated by the 80 per cent of the Palestinian people who were driven by terror and force of arms from there homes, their land and thus their living in 1948. In all 750,000 men, women and children were driven north, east, south and some into the sea in boats.