Iraq Reconstruction. Complicity. Craigslist and Funny Games.

Driving to work today, the biggest issue of the moment seemed to be the fact that as reported by the BBC the US Military has failed to account for 96% ($8.7bn) of money aligned with the sale of Iraqi oil and gas, and some assets of Saddam Hussein. It is hard to believe that little coverage has been given to the above. All news agencies that do not publish such articles should be held to account. Questions must be asked. Where has this money gone, and to whom? So to must the US military. It seems simply inconceivable that records were not kept. When confronted with such news, one is once again reminded of the fact that the US invaded Iraq on false pretenses. That the occupation was not for WMD's but to take over a country with large amounts of oil. Stories such as the above serve only to cement such viewpoints, not dispel them. All responsible must be held to account. I should admit my guilt for driving to work. I have indirectly supported that which I write against. It was only out of convenience and laziness, conditioning perhaps.

Moving on. The month is almost out and it is raining softly outside. A missed connection from Craigslist and then Funny Games.

Were you at Sentido Funf last night?? - m4w (Fitzroy)

I woke up this morning and you were still on my mind.

I was with 4 friends, you were with 3 ladies, and we kept locking eyes in the garden around 1030. I wore a white shirt, black pants, grey jacket and a ginger beard. You wore a white tee, had your black hair straight, and kept flashing that stunning smile.

If that's you, then I'm sorry I didn't come over. My complete and utter mistake. Get in touch?

Funny Games, written and directed by Michael Haneke, is a film to be watched. It disturbs and Haneke refuses to give his audiencewhat they desire. A happy ending.

There are two versions of Haneke's film: an American version (2008) which is a shot for shot remake of the Austrian film (1997). Ciao Bella.

Bobby.

One scene from Emilio Estevez's film "BOBBY" has stuck with me. Estevez intercuts actual news footage of Bobby Kennedy interacting with the public and the public's perception of him with dramatic scenes of the film.

It is one of these news clips that has stuck with me: Bobby Kennedytalking to a class of children. He describes that it could be possible in fifty years for people to be walking the streets of New York City with gas masks, due to dramatic increases in pollution. Kennedy also describes that active steps need to be taken to curb automobile pollution and to curb the dumping of pollutants into waterways. The children keenly listening, they are today's adults.

It has been 38 years since Kennedy uttered these words. How far then have we progressed? How much damage been done? It was disconcerting almost, to hear Kennedy speak of such issues, because in all reality what has been done?

Big is beautiful.

Big is beautiful. Consolidate your super. Somali refugees in Uganda now fear a backlash from Ugandans, because of the Shabab's World Cup bombings. A married Arab man who lied to a Jewish woman to get her to sleep with him — telling her that he was a single Jew interested in a long-term relationship — was convicted of rape.

Gillard, Abbott, Wendy & lucy, Masterchef and tonight her water broke.

Wendy & Lucy is great American film. Simple and seemingly authentic, set it in Oregon, telling the story of Wendy and her dog. To tell you anymore would wreck the film and be warned not to read the blurb at the back of the DVD case. Because Wendy and Lucy whose plot is simple, but which does have the power to effect, if you will let it, if you have a heart.

Benny Goodman plays on the stereo as I write this with a song called "This is new." An appropriate title since I have started this blog entry with a film review of sorts rather than a diatribe on politics or something of a similar vain.

Get your tax in, get what you can get back. Politically inappropriate perhaps, but have you seen Julia Gillard's body profile? It would make an interesting investigation to work out what sticks out further, her arse or nose, both of which will no doubt be growing bigger by the day. Can a small blog entry such as that come back and haunt me? Time will only tell, but should one be lambasted for telling the truth? The king of swing and one hundred years of solitude.

Tony Abbott was born on the same day as my mother. She says that is why she would vote Liberal. The year is half over and what have you and I done? In positive news Coles has said goodbye to Sow stalls, it seems worthwhile that you go to the following link and Make ALL Supermarket Shelves Sow Stall Free. Perhaps an even better is to just go vegetarian. One step at a time, towards a better world. In the papers it would be appear Abbott is behind Gillard, perhaps Fairfax and News Ltdhave made a decision that Gillard should be Prime Minister. It seems interesting to note that the Labour party has had a seemingly ruthless run of unseating its leaders. The mining tax long forgotten, dead and buried. Why is it that the Greens leader does not take part in leadership debates? Is it not concerning that a political leadership debate is postponed because of a Masterchef finale? The winner of Masterchef seemingly more important who it is that will rule the nation. TV the drug of a nation. We get incensed over trivialities that occur in make believe world, that hold no real relevance to us. Conditioned to watch a show that holds and demands our attention. Shop where the Masterchef shops.

Now that I have got rid of my FACEBOOK account, the only tool I had to share my writings is gone. An ad on Craigslist Melbourne Casual Encounter, alerts any interested parties to some of the opportunities available out there:

9 Months Pregnant Wife Needs Other Men - mw4m - 34 (Melbourne)

Wife is 9 months pregnant and horny (always happens when she is pregnant).

During her last pregnancy, her water broke during sex; in fact, we continued sex until her contractions set in.

Her due date for this pregnacy is tomorrow (21 July). We have decided that this time she will give other guys the other honour of making her water break.

Send a message if interested.

Imagine coming into the world under such circumstances. Till tomorrow.

Once again

Once again, I've neglected to look after this page. A new blog is slowly being put together, though it is only in its infancy www.wh0t.com and will not be properly up and running for a while going on the slow progress so far made. It seems now essential now to keep this blog up and running.

It is raining outside and the sound is beautiful, filled with promise. It was not long after the well in the Gulf of Mexico was plugged than another oil disaster began to unfold in China.

The clouds are gray and the birds have baths in puddles formed on the silver roads. A promise that I will update this blog soon would seem to be hollow. I find it hard to convince even myself. Who are you that reads this? How far are we separated in distance, time, opinion and temperament? The World Cup is over, Spain Victorious, I watched THE COVE on the weekend and the Road to Guantanamo last night. Both excellent films in their own right.

Guantanamo Bay. The injustice and horror, the mind fuck. What a scary place. Humanity lost. I'm lost for words how any could work in such environments. Collective madness.

International Detention Coalition. IDC.

LOUD SPACE is now helping compile the monthy newsletter for the International Detention Coalition. If you are interested in subscribing to the newsletter or seeing what work the IDC is involved click here.

Zion & Babylon.

Zion and Babylon. On the subject of Israel/Palestine, Thomas Friedman, a columnist for the New York times states that people go temporarily insane over the issue, with opinions for and against the state of Israel. The Israel/Palestine issue is one in which opinions are fraught with personal bias, often influenced by the cultural and religious identities of the person expressing their subjective opinion.

Documented below is a quick summation of LOUD SPACE'S standpoints on the Israel/Palestine issue, with attention given to Israel's raid on the Mavi Marmara, the ship that as charged with bringing aid to Gaza.

*Israel has a right to exist. Whether a person likes it or not the state of Israel is here to remain for the foreseeable future.

*Palestinians are entitled to basic human rights denied currently to them.

*It is unfortunate that Jewish people, victims for so long of hate and injustice, now perpetrate their own injustices on another.

*The blockade on Gaza must end.

*New Jewish settlements must end.

*The use of violence on the Mavi Marmara towards IDF soldiers was inappropriate and counter productive.

*Calls for the destruction of Israel must end.

And this is enough for now. The subject is too divisive. Filled with blood and history. There are too many extremists/fundamentalists that have hijacked the debate. There is too much fear and hate. As a Jew I see the faults of my own people but understand our fears and standpoints. As a human I see the plight of the Palestinian people but wonder if the two sides can ultimately get along. Below is a Wiki entry on Joe Slovo's opinion on Zionism.

A committed Marxist internationalist, Slovo was outspoken as a South African critic of Israeli policies, both highlighting the cooperation between Israeli administrations and apartheid-era South Africa and noting the irony of a nation of dispossessed refugees establishing a state founded on the idea of exclusion.

Remembering his brief visit to a Jewish kibbutz in Palestine during his trip back to South Africa from Europe after the Second World War, Slovo, in an unfinished autobiography published following his death, wrote:

"Within a few years the wars of consolidation and expansion began. Ironically enough, the horrors of the Holocaust became the rationalization for the preparation by Zionists of acts of genocide against the indigenous people of Palestine. Those of us who, in the years that were to follow, raised our voices publicly against the violent apartheid of the Israeli state were vilified by the Zionist press. It is ironic, too, that the Jew-haters in South Africa – those who worked and prayed for a Hitler victory – have been linked in close embrace with the rulers of Israel in a new axis based on racism."