But Then Munitions Rain and We're The Epicentre

People. Are. Dying!

Perseid Meteor Seen From Space, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, 2011

For the most part I ignore Valentine's Day, though there was that one time I threw darts in lovers' eyes. I had in fact been planning to write something for said date, but at the New Year I decided to pursue a course of action that might not result in it being like every other year. Anyway, I was enjoying my day off work on the 15th by sleeping into the afternoon and being slightly disappointed by the previous day's apparent lack of progress. I eventually got up and refreshed the BBC News page before heading to the shop. I thought it had finally happened. I thought the opening of Rendezvous with Rama had come true sixty four years and 47° longitude early. In hindsight that would probably have been top story rather than the horse-meat scandal. Had the circumstances been different, Chelyabinsk could have been a real turning point. Time, size, mass, angle, speed - particular variations could have seen the city replaced with a crater. The thing about Earth is that it's mostly water, so even passing over a major population area makes it a landmark event. In a world that retroactively edits out the Twin Towers from films released in the quarter of a century before 2001, how often do you think Deep Impact or Armageddon would ever be broadcast again?

21 Years in Captivity, Shoes Too Small to Fit His Feet

USSR Post stamp, 1988

I've been in jail longer than Nelson Mandela so maybe you want me to run for president.
-John Mason, The Rock

Quite a while back I made a short reference to the electoral troubles in Zimbabwe and the stature of Nelson Mandela. When Mandela was in hospital in December and there was concern the end might be near, I wondered how it was that he had gone from terrorist to globally respected elder while one-time hero of Africa, Robert Mugabe, had revealed himself to be an autocrat. Both were leaders of post-Apartheid states, but only one has overstayed his welcome. Indeed, I think the real reason Mandela is held so reverentially is not because he single-handedly rescued South Africa from racism, poverty, or any of the other ills it suffers from; but because he honoured the democratic system. His term expired and he stood aside. That he didn't go from liberator to dictator was an extraordinary break with the prevailing historical trend. Quoth Harvey Dent: "You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain". Mandela avoided such a fate, but Mugabe has gone down the Ceauşescu route of being cashiered of his international awards and honours. What I suspect is that there is something fundamental in the histories of these two statesmen and their states that has led to such divergent outcomes.

As Far From God As Angels Can Fly

The Door to Hell in the Nighttime, flydime, 2010

In October my most recent promulgation on theology veered off from its intended target into an argument against circumcision. It's unsurprising that in the end I ditched half of the draft, as it took seven months to turn a collection of notes, quotes, and links into a publishable post. Amidst it I did touch upon my own perception of the servile nature of Christianity, and indeed all the Abrahamic religions - accepted translations for the words Islam (iSLaM) and Muslim (muSLiM), from the Semitic triliteral root š-l-m (cf. Hebrew 'Shalom'), are 'the act of submitting' (submission) and 'one who submits'. I grossly reject the subservient streak of those theologies - the metaphorical patriarchy, the use of the language and imagery of shepherding, and the idea of serving (in heaven). I said I was one of those people more interested in ruling in Hell. It's an expression, of course, as I remain an atheist and the one thing more ridiculous than worshipping Santa Claus is worshipping the Bogeyman. I don't think it's coincidental that those names are appropriate substitutes for God and Satan because they really are near identical methods of social control.