Who waves his mighty hand / and breaks the precious rules?

Sometimes a good dose of head scratching does not go amiss. Every day I have several “what the….” moments.

I had one yesterday when I came across this story about US soldiers handing out coins implanted with the Lord’s gospel in Fallujah of all places. This being a week or so after another soldier was using the Koran for target practice.

Update: it seems said Marine has had his hand smacked, but for (whichever) god’s sake, half a decade on, don’t they explain these things in some detail before they get there. I guess not.

Then there is the truly bizarre Rachael Ray / Dunkin Donuts story. I’ve always assumed that Michelle Malkin is a very smart woman who has figured out there is money to be made by exploiting the prejudices of simpletons. As Rupert Murdoch knows, it’s a lucrative industry stateside. But even Rupert has bowed to the inevitable it seems, and now wants to meet Obama. After all the vileness that Rupert has foisted on the world in recent years, not least of which was playing his part in the deaths of however many in the Middle East, one would hope that Obama would refuse his handshake and tell him to fuck off. But I’m guessing that political expediency being what it is, he’ll just bite his lip.

And I scratched my head when I watched John McCain last night on one of the network news channels. He looks so very old, very puffy and quite unhealthy. Much worse than he did only two or three months back. The most positive thing I could say about his posture and demeanour is that if I was an American voter, I’d be very nervous about putting this man into the White House. At least Reagan had some style and zest before his first term.

And I scratch my head when I drive around this once beautiful island of Bali, at the billboards and rubbish that swamp every traffic intersection, the gruesome square residential blocks that are rising in Kuta, at the permitted visual pollution everywhere. But I guess, if there is no profit to made personally by some “official” then this is the future.

And that's before I mention the Dreamland development. You look at that and you can almost breathe the bad karma that it exudes. This island will bite back there and it won't be pleasant. I'm not naturally a suspicious person, but I'm thinking (actually, not thinking, more feeling) that you invest there at your own risk, something much commented on by the Balinese I know.

As a positive aside, I love the Quiet Village Podcast over at Resident Advisor. The site's podcasts have been fairly technoid over the years, which may not suit some (although I love them…banging, snarling, noisy techno makes me feel like my youth is still not lost I guess, and then I go all soft around the edges when the same genre gets moody). However, it’s been hell of a source of audio amusement for me over that time, and I like the way the regular podcasts are getting nicely eclectic.

Nothing to scratch ones head about there….