What happens to human beings when a nuclear weapon explodes?

This is what happens to human beings and living beings when they get close enough to the epicentre of an atomic bomb blast.



The clip is from the 1983 Japanese anime, Barefoot Gen (Jpn: Hadashi no Gen). This anime is in turn based on a manga series of the same name by Keiji Nakazawa. The comic itself is loosely based on Nakazawa's own experiences as a survivor of the Hiroshima bombing (commonly known as hibakusha in Japan).

The scenes, though just animation, was horrifying and cruel. Therefore, justifying the existence of nuclear weapons as "strategic" is nonsense indeed. The existence of nuclear weapons will always hang like a sword of Damocles over humanity. As it is, we already have enough nuclear weapons to annihilate all of humanity several times over.

Nuclear weapons are the ultimate threat to the dignity of all life. There is no other choice but for us to work towards the abolition of nuclear weapons.

The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas (movie)

It's been more than two month since my last post, and I have to admit that I haven't been particularly inspired to blog. However, I think it's time to get back on my feet, and post something here, before it becomes another "forgotten effort", or as it is much better put in Malay, "hangat-hangat tahi ayam" (or staying hot as long as chicken droppings).

This movie, The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas (2008), based on the book of the same title by John Boyne, tells the tale of friendship between two eight-year old boys in Nazi Germany. Bruno (played by Asa Butterfield), the son of a Nazi Schutzstaffel (SS) officer was made to leave his life in Berlin behind when his father, Ralf (David Thewlis) receives a promotion and has to transfer to the outskirts of Germany.

Bruno and his family arrives at an area where there are hardly any other people around. One day, by chance, Bruno sees a farm in the distance from a window.  He begins to become curious about what happens on the farm, and sneaks out to the farm.

There, he meets a boy, Shmuel, who is the same age as him. They soon become best friends. In fact, they seem to be the only children their age around that area. But Shmuel cannot come out from the farm. When Bruno asked him why, Shmuel says it is because he is a Jew.

Bruno begins to see Shmuel more frequently, and often brings food to Shmuel, who is always hungry (not to mention always dirty and unkempt as well). The only clothes Shmuel has is the grey-striped pyjamas that all inmates of the farm have to wear.

Bruno manages to keep his friendship from Bruno a secret from his family, until one day. Meanwhile, Bruno's mother, Elsa (Vera Farmiga) begins to discover the horrific truth of the work that her husband is doing.

Bruno and his sister, Gretel a tutored at home by an old man who feeds them biased ideas about who Jews are. Bruno meanwhile is confused as the Jews that he came to know, Shmuel, and a kitchen help named Pavel, are anything but evil.

Soon, the brutality of his father's work begins to permeate their daily life, and leads to a calamitous ending. I'll leave you to read the book and watch the movie to find out those details.

The hubris of war does not spare anyone, not even innocent young children. Children, who are without prejudice and hatred towards others, become living sacrifices to the madness of war. Women and children often becomes the targets of war violence.Innocent children like Bruno and Shmuel, though belonging to opposites, are both mercilessly consumed.

War is cruel, barbaric, inhuman.

How Do Fruit Flies Help Kill People?

In the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the US military has been deploying unmanned Predator drones to bomb various targets. The targeting technology of these drones were developed from studying the bio-mechanics of the vision of fruit flies. It was pionereed at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), which boasts more than 30 Nobel laureates, among them the late physicist, Richard Feynman.

The use of technology in killing innocent people have made generals and politicians less reluctant to go to war, as they perceive that the human cost, and only that on their side, would be lower. They are now more willing to satisfy their bloodlust, and they smirk to themselves thinking that they have killed their enemies without sending a single soldier.

Roger Cohen wrote in the New York Times Op-Ed pages (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/13/opinion/13iht-edcohen.html?_r=1): "The Obama administration should not be targeting people for killing without some public debate about how such targets are selected, what the grounds are in the laws of war, and what agencies are involved. Right now there’s an accountability void.There are also broader questions. When robots are tomorrow’s veterans, does war become more likely and more endless? Do drones cow enemies with America’s technological prowess or embolden them to think America is not man enough to fight? What is the psychological toll on video-screen warriors?"

The thing is, killing is killing. If there is to be a "public debate" it should be about how to end the war, and all future wars. Merely pontificating on the morality of using machines to kill people will not change the cruel, inhumane, murderous face of war.

The Name Is Love

The name is love,

The class is mindless,

The school is suffering,

The governorate is sadness,

The city is sighing,

The street is misery,

The home number is one thousand sighs.

This poem was written by a thirteen-year old Iraqi boy named Jassim back in 1998. Jassim  was lying sick from leaukemia in an Iraqi hospital that had been deprived of its capabilities due to the debilitating sanctions enforced on Iraq after the first Gulf War in 1991. Furthermore, it is believed that Jassim's cancer was caused by the radiation from depleted uranium that was deployed during the first Gulf War (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depleted_uranium).

He was waiting for medication to arrive from an European aid agency. As a result of the sanctions imposed by the United Nations (UN) and the United States and their allies, the capacity of Iraqi hospitals to treat ilnesses have been severely compromised. 

During the thirteen years of sanction from 1990 to 2003 (just before the Iraq invasion), more than 1.5 million Iraqis have died as a result of the sanctions imposed on them. About half a million of those dead were children under the age of five. 

During those years of sanctions, the average Iraqi could only afford to have roughly USD 185 spent on them for various necessities. Meanwhile, the United Nations spent about USD 400 per year on every dog it used for bomb-sniffing operations in Iraq. This was just for food. Yes, the life of a UN dog is roughly worth the life of two Iraqis.  And I am quite sure that these dogs got better healthcare than the almost 50 million Americans (and hundreds of millions more around the world) without health insurance.

Anyway, to cut the story short, Jassim died before his medication could arrive. 

The End.

The Soldier's Creed

Look at the United States Army's Soldier's Creed.

After the US soldiers committed atrocities in Vietnam, particularly in My Lai, the US Army drew up the Soldier's Creed as a guiding document of conduct for members of the military. It was designed to ensure that a soldier in a US Army uniform conducted himself with honour while in service. (Wasn't the entire Vietnam war itself an atrocity?)

Today, the Soldier's Creed has been replaced by the "Warrior Ethos". Observe the marked differences. It does not require him to restrain himself or his comrades from committing atrocities while in uniform. He is not specifically prevented from doing anything that will "disgrace my uniform, my unit or my country."

Is this why they and their allies seem to commit atrocities wherever they go? Even with a strict code of conduct, war simply brings out the demonic side in people. And this demonic side can be revealed in anyone, not just in soldiers of a particular country. War makes the unacceptable become acceptable. War does not just kill people; it kills hope, it kills peace.

We must abolish war.

http://cosmicdinesh.blogspot.com/

Guantanamo Prisoner no. 345

This is Sami al-Hajj.

Sami was once held at Guantanamo Bay for nearly seven years. During his time in detention, he endured horrors that we cannot imagine.

Even for me, the hell that is called Guantanamo sounded like a distant place, until I came face-to-face with a man who survived it.

He had been subjected to more than 200 interrogations, saw the Holy Quran torn and desecrated in front of him. He has been subjected to beatings and torture. He went on a 480-day hunger strike, and came close to suicide. He was force-fed food with a hose that's too big, with no lubricant or anaesthetic, and dirty to boot. Psychiatrists at Guantanamo even suggested methods of suicides to inmates.

How can anyone belonging to the medical profession do that?

Instead of feeling hatred for his captors, he feels pity for them. "How will they face their families and friends when they return?" For a man who has gone through so much, you would think that he would speak in torrential anger. He has every reason to hate his captors, who have not charged him with a single crime all the time he was there.

But no. He speaks in an almost monotone voice. That is because his heart is truly cleansed of hatred and anger. "We are seeking justice, not revenge," he stresses. "I am grateful because I have gathered so many stories." He has made it his mission in life to expose the injustice in Guantanamo, and of war.

My colleagues at Cosmic magazine and I had the honour of interviewing him at the Perdana Global Peace Organisation (PGPO) Anti-War Conference and Exhibition. He also gave his testimony at the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission.

I have a profound respect for this man. He is not only a beacon of journalism, he is also a champion of humanity. Because of people like him, our dreams of eternal peace is not just a dream, but a reality within our reach.

Torture 101

The following is a scenario imagined by the author:

Dearest students,


Welcome to the latest course in our class, Torture 101. This class is designed to instruct students on the most "effective" methods on extracting confessions, real or imagined, from your captives. We will be discussing the techniques involved and include demonstrations videos wherever possible. We will then discuss methods that will make the torture method even more effective. 


1    Water-boarding.

      This is a most popular, and effective form of torture. The target's head, in particular the nose and mouth is covered with a piece of cloth. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States prefers to use cellophane tape over the target.


Once the target has been so wrapped and securely strapped onto a workbench or flat table, water is then poured over his face. If necessary, the quantity and intensity with which water is being poured is increased in order to increase the speed at which the confession is obtained.


You can see a photo of the water-boarding set-up here:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2898516&l=16515caf1b&id=606887744

 The purpose of this torture method is to simulate the act of drowning. The target will feel as if they are drowning, and this creates an immediate sensation of terror and helplessness. If they breathe, they will take in water. If they hold their breath however, they will feel the grip of the head-wrap getting tighter. It's a win-win situation for the torturer.


Videos of demonstration can be seen here:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LPubUCJv58

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0SnqfFXc1k


And so, we have come to the end of today's lesson. Your assignment" Get into groups of four and discuss ways to further enhance the effectiveness of water-boarding.

Class dismissed.

"War is the terrorism of the rich and powerful." - Peter Ustinov

"War brings only suffering and misery to ordinary people, to families and mothers. It is always nameless and unknown people who suffer and moan amidst the mud and flames. In war, human life is used as a means to an end, an expendable commodity" - Daisaku Ikeda

Si Anak Kecil (A Little Child) by Usman Awang

A moving poem on the waste and senselessness of war. Yesterday, August 15, was the 64th anniversary of the end of World War 2.

Di atas runtuhan batu-batu bangunan itu

Si anak kecil sendiri berdiri

Dengan luka-luka di kepala dan kaki

Menatap keliling yang sepi.

Peperangan itu membunuh ibunya

Membunuh seluruh keluarganya

Ayahnya entah di mana.

Dengarkan suara si anak kecil bertanya

Mana ibuku mana kakakku?

Mana rotiku mana bajuku

Mana bukuku mana sekolahku;

Dan jawabannya adalah itu

Ledakan bom dan peluru

Angin luka dan hujan debu.

Berapa luaskah pusara

Berapa bukitkah tulang selangka

Berapa lautankah air mata

Berapa jutakah nyawa

Yang mesti disediakan

Sebelum peperangan dihentikan?

O pejuang kebenaran

Berapa banyakkah lagi para shuhada

Akan kau kapankan

Tanpa bunga tanpa pusara?

Si anak kecil mengusapi luka bertanya

Manakah embun pagi yang jernih itu,

Manakah kicau burung senja lembayung

Manakah lembut jari ibuku,

O manakah dunia yang hasanah itu?

Manakah dunia yang hasanah itu?

English translation:

Among the ruins

A little child stands alone

With wounds on his head and legs

Staring at the surrounding emptiness

This war had killed his mother

Killed his whole family

While his father is still missing

Let us hear the little voice asking

Where is my mother, where is my sister?

Where is my bread, where are my clothing?

Where are my books, where is my school?

And the answers are

Bullets and exploding bombs

The wind hurts and poisonous rains.

How vast is the graveyard

How high the piles of skeletons

How many oceans of tears

How many lives

Must be sacrificed

Before this war ends?

Oh fighters of truth

How many more martyrs

Must you bury

Without flowers without graves?

The little child, caressing his wounds, asks

Where has the clear morning dew gone to,

What has happened to the chirping of birds at dusk,

Where are mother’s gentle fingers

Oh, what is happening to this fine world

What is happening to this fine world?

from Cempaka: An Anthology, published by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 1994