I live in Australia so borders here are a signpost on the side of the road saying “Welcome to the Australian Capital Territory/Queensland/etc” to let you know that different state based road rules are in place. And there are some different laws in other areas too but the point is that you don’t need a passport, a visa or diplomatic plates on your car to traverse from one place to the next.

So the borders I’m really talking about are international borders and since Australia is one of a very few large nations to cover an entire island you need to fly or head out to sea to cross a national border. Here we put up with hearing a lot about “boat people”, “people smugglers” and our frankly insane and inhumane “offshore processing centres”. You also occasionally will hear about our “fishing grounds” and Navy vessels out protecting our fisheries from illegal overfishing. And of course oil and gas drilling shenanigans – especially with Timor Leste – a shameful episode in our country’s relations with a fledging nation that could use a bit of assistance to get onto their own feet – but that is a story for another day. But that is about it for border discussions – unless you watch those TV shows about people going through Customs at the airport. You hear about Border Force a lot there. Bizarre TV that is but that’s not what I wanted to get into right now.

We currently have a total mess happening in the Middle East which I covered, in some detail, a couple of posts back. And in there I mentioned Israel firing missiles at Syria, for effectively no repercussions at all.

Since then Israel have been doing the same to Lebanon, doing targeted assassinations of Hezbollah members. They have continued to launch into Syria as well, killing a highly ranked Iranian there. The US have launched missile strikes into Iraq, supposedly to stop “attacks on their troops” in Iraq. Iraq look to be very close to kicking those troops out now as a result. The latest of these types of cross-border attacks involves the UK and US bombing targets in Yemen allegedly belonging to the Houthi rebels who have been attacking merchant shipping as their way of showing support to the Palestinians. Supposedly targeting shipping going to and from Israel or owned by Israeli interests or something. It’s getting hard to keep up with the detail.

So, here are my long awaited questions/points to this whole post.

Question 1: How the actual fuck is it ok to attack Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, et al? Since when have sovereign borders ceased to mean anything? With effectively no repercussions.

Question 2: How do you think Volodymyr Zelenskyy feels about the UK and US happily popping military assets in to the Red Sea to launch some missiles into Yemen when they are utterly refusing to put a single troop into Ukraine to help them?

Firstly Q1. I believe it was in 2023 when a Chinese “weather” balloon was found to be crossing the continental United States. It caused an international furore and Joe Biden authorised it to be shot down. Yep, a balloon. We had some diplomatic sabre rattling about how it was in US airspace and how verily dare it be there. Who knows which conspiracy theory mission it was going to carry out but you cannot be in our airspace as we are the good ol U S of A and it just ain’t happening. Uh huh. Right. So where exactly is the territorial integrity of Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq respected? But, but, they are bad people and we need them gone. Oh I see. Unlike the bad people in North Korea. In Myanmar. In Somalia. In Ethiopia. On Wall Street. Or how about coming across the Ukrainian border from Russia.

Here’s my view on the might and power of the USA.

Analysis: Can it possibly fight back? It can? Shit, we’re not going there then.

What are Yemen going to do to the USA? Sweet. Fuck. All. After all they’ve been kind of busy having their own civil war of late being one of the biggest humanitarian crises on the planet for some years but that’s all right because the Saudis are going to fix that and they are the USA’s allies so we’ll just look away. But if the Saudis are doing so well in Yemen how are the Houthis actually managing to do pretty much anything against merchant shipping anyway? That I don’t know. I’ll just presume that is Iran’s influence and leave it at that. Oh hang on, could Iran get involved? Well the USA would looove that. They enjoyed kicking the snot out of Iraq, who they had armed themselves so they kind of knew what to expect. They also put Saddam Hussein in the top job too but they don’t want you to remember that bit. Well Iran are friends with one Vladimir Putin and he is the big bad bogeyman that scares the bejesus out of NATO so if Iran do more than say “WTF?” I suggest those UK and US naval vessels will be out of the area faster than you can “Perestroika”. The US will currently quite happily go after any target that has no possibility of fighting back. Which will make the whole Taiwan shit show get very interesting, very quickly if Xi goes in militarily.

Q2. Sick in the guts I expect. Sorry lad, as I’ve said before, you are on a whipping to nothing here and will be happily sacrificed by the political machine on Capitol Hill. And then they will blame each other for not helping enough while Russian borders grow. An utter fucking disgrace but it’s what I think will happen. I will be overjoyed to be wrong in that case.

So where to from here? A full Middle East war? Iran finally going after Israel? And where does that leave the Saudis, Qataris and other emirates who were beginning to see the financial (yes money again) advantages to dealing with Israel on a more cordial basis. And since the USA defends anything Israel do without any reservations, and they are allies of the Saudis in particular where does everyone stand? Arab vs Arab has never been a good thing. They have certainly gone at it previously when it was Sunni vs Shia but they’ve tended to stick together when it’s Arab vs non-Arab. There is a lot of historical tension and you can go back as far as you want to see that happening. Sunni vs Shia is nothing new and nor is Christian vs Muslim. The formation of Israel in that location after WWII utterly baffles me and the resident Bedouin and Palestinian population could hardly have appreciated being told you don’t own this land anymore – it belongs to these people instead. Would you meekly leave your land where you have lived for generations because some other arsehole persecuted a lot of people thousands of miles away? Incredible. And look at the shit storm it has created in the Middle East for almost the last 80 years.

I dunno where it ends. And I don’t have a clever closer to this article. In 13 days time it’s Australia Day or Invasion Day depending on your viewpoint. The indigenous people that were here before colonisation/invasion had borders for their own nations within this continent. And they had fights and arguments about those borders I’m sure. But their civilisation and culture lasted more than 40,000 years so they obviously sorted things out when necessary. Ours won’t last 40,000 years the way we carry on. That’s for certain.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/jan/10/peter-dutton-gina-rinehart-pilbara-party-flown-roy-hill-mine-warburton-group

You utter twat.

Planet Earth!

Well, maybe not the whole planet so let me be a little more specific.

Ukraine: still getting the shit bombed out of it by Putin’s forces so he can say he made the Motherland great again (sounds oddly familiar). He does have an “election” this year, if you can actually call what is left after the Russian process of disqualifying or imprisoning any and all actual opponents occurs, an election. Democracy all the way. Maybe not. Anyway, no fun being in Ukraine. I’ve written about this previously and nothing has changed. Including my call on how it will end. Sorry Ukraine. Without direct intervention from your so called “allies” I cannot see you withholding the entire military-industrial establishment of Russia. The bravery of these people is something else and they deserve so much more support – not just materials (which are drying up anyway), but actual armies, air forces and navies getting in to drive back Putin’s aggression. But it ain’t going to happen and Ukraine will eventually be a part of Russia again.

Palestine: yes Gaza is being summarily destroyed by the walking bag of shit known as Netanyahu who is really enjoying the distraction from his corruption probe that Hamas ever so thoughtfully provided him with. Now before I get lambasted here allow me to say what Hamas did on October 7 2023 was utterly incomprehensible, reprehensible and those involved deserved to be expunged from history. I’d be happy for them to be launched into the Sun at this point. Fucking idiots. But then Shitsack, I’m not typing his name again, decided that he would deliver unto the Palestinians what was delivered unto his Jewish people in WW2 by another utterly reprehensible creature. (And might I quickly say Bravo to South Africa for their case they have raised at the ICJ) How many times does it need to be proven that you cannot destroy a guerilla insurgency with conventional military dogma of tanks, missiles, drones and bombs? Ask the Russians how Afghanistan went for them. Then ask the Yanks how it worked for them. And how do you equate telling people in the mostly densely populated part of the world to move to the South into already squalid and overcrowded refugee camps as being “the right thing to do” before bombing the living shit out of where these people lived. And then you bomb the refugee camps too. And then get them to move further south. And further south. But don’t open the border to let them go into Egypt – oh fuck no, some of the militants might escape. Biggest humanitarian crisis the world has seen according to the UN. So what to do about it? Let’s pass a watered down resolution through the Security Council to allow aid in. Before this shit exploded there were 500 trucks a day bringing in aid. Now they bring in 200 through one border crossing to Egypt and that is supposed to help? But don’t stop the bombing and/or the incursion into Gaza. Right. But it’s not just Gaza, they are in the West Bank too. And bombing Lebanon. Oh and Syria as well.

Slight divergence here – how the fuck do they get away with launching attacks into other countries? Barely a mention in the Security Council about those except from Iran and the countries actually being attacked. Yeah the US vetoes every single criticism of Israel but still, how is it fucking kocher? I’m not even gobsmacked. More like jaded. Deep breath….. and back on topic.

Myanmar: where a democratically elected government was overthrown by the military and then they just do whatever the hell they want, whenever they want, to whoever they want. No intervention but ASEAN decided to not invite the General leading it to the last conference. Oh man, that’ll fucking hurt. Oh wait, they’re involved in a sideline conference instead. Phew – might have hurt the poor man’s feelings or something. And if you are a Rohingyan refugee, well you’re even more fucked than the rest of Myanmar.

Guyana: most people have never even heard of Guyana, a former British colony in South America. I’m going to drop that there or there will be a 5000 word piece on Colonialism and how I wanted to take a nuclear powered submarine back in time and stop the British ever finding (and fucking up) Australia. I really did – and that was in 1982 I broadcast that to my school mates. They thought I was weird. Yep. Back to Guyana though, their lovely neighbour Venezuela has decided that part of Guyana, coincidentally a very oil-rich part (who would have guessed). would look really good being a part of Venezuela. So much so that the Venezuelan government ran a referendum on it and surprise, surprise, 99% of the vote agreed it was a grand idea. So Guyana are understandably a bit worried that the big V military force will be heading their way soon to grab a chunk of their country from them. And I don’t actually know if they asked for help but the Brits decided to send a warship down to “fly the old Union Jack”. Maybe the PM thinks this is his personal Falklands moment or something, I’m not quite across UK politics since it’s even more disturbing than Aussie politics and one can only stomach so much when your not getting paid for it, but whatever. It has certainly pissed off Venezuela who are now running military drills all over the place, mobilising troops, flying warplanes about and demanding the Brits bugger ye off instantly. So potential for conflict here is high.

Haiti: honestly these poor people have had to take a lot of shit. Natural disasters, corruption, crime gangs, kidnapping, assassinations, you name it, it has probably happened to them. I’d be amazed if these poor bastards even know what “happy” actually means.

Anywhere in the Americas: I’ve touched on Venezuela vs Guyana and the Haiti vs Haiti match ups above but the incredible scenes of thousands and thousands of refugees walking from South America to try to get to the USA is my very definition of a world gone insane. Whether they come from Ecuador (a mess), Colombia (a mess), Brazil (a mess), Argentina (a total fucking mess), Chile (a mess), Peru (you guessed it – a mess) or one of the few other nations I haven’t specifically heard is a mess in the last 5 days (yes, the last 5 days) it’s fair to say that South America is in a bit of a state right now. And a lot of people are fleeing persecution, criminal gangs, imploding economies, military bullshit, indigenous people being trampled into the ground and probably lots more. But then you are walking through Central America and well shit it’s not that much better there. Dangerous rainforest that is being controlled by more criminal gangs extorting, murdering, raping and again doing whatever they want. Then you have Panama and the massive environmental issues associated with the Canal and the changing rainfall patterns and ongoing drought they are suffering. Plus their own political nonsense that is ongoing. Then the total shit show that is Nicaragua currently, which deserves a textbook of its own as an example of how to turn a country into a family estate like North Korea. And if you get through all of that life-threatening craziness you hit Mexico. Where gang violence has burst through to stratospheric heights of lunacy in kidnapping, rape, torture, murder and extortion. Almost like they are competing with Haiti to see who can be more messed up. But even if you get through Mexico alive you then hit the wall that is the USA. Where migrants are wanted for cheap labour but they really aren’t wanted at all by anyone who votes Republican. Unfortunately for these poor people that have just walked for thousands of miles to get to that border, most of the South is staunchly Republican. And migrants are a commodity to make political mileage out of. They are not people. They are sub-human. And that is fucked up.

USA: now these lot deserve their own article right here. So let me abbreviate this. A lot. Donald J Trump. You thought I was finished there right? Nope. Joseph R Biden Jr. Still not done. Elon Fucking Musk. Not his actual middle name but it’s more appropriate. Ok, specifics. Trump – is actually running for Pres again. No real Republican opposition as they are scared shitless of his MAGA supporters who are as rusted on as you can possibly get. It’s basically a cult. He says whatever he likes and even when it is against their best interests the MAGA cult just lap it up and worship him some more. Incredible. Biden – is going around the Congress and is sending weapons to Israel which is even pissing off his own party. Who will stand against him as he says he wants to “run” again. He’s 81 and has trouble walking let alone running. Seriously, piss off the minimum age rule and just give the job to AOC. (Will never happen.) Musk – has disappeared up his own arsehole and is now denser than a neutron star. Put him in the next SpaceX rocket and launch him to Pluto. Please. While these 3 idiots are around and have even the slightest hand in the power struggle for the nation the USA can never function in any meaningful way except to eventually have a Civil War or to break up the USA into little satellite sub-nation groups like when the USSR imploded into the legion of Stans.

Canada: seriously, no one can dislike Canada right? I mean Justin Trudeau is awesome right? Well, dig a little. He talks up Climate Change and liberal issues and just doesn’t follow through. So if you are Indigenous, you may well be fighting to keep your land free of pipelines, mining and all sorts of other crap that you don’t want despite all of the First Nations stuff that has happened over the last bundle of years. Plus all of the natural disasters they have been though with the fires in the North can they possibly have a Happy New Year?

Africa: oh fuck, there’s a thesis in this category. From famine in Ethiopia and Kenya to war (or at least serious civil unrest) in many countries including Sudan, Mali, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso for starters, plus the astonishing destruction of Derna in Libya from broken dams that ripped a city apart and washed a third of it out to sea, I’m not too sure there would be a huge amount of good cheer in Africa. And really, I only see any of this because I watch SBS News. African events are not generally covered in great depth in Australian media so there is probably a shit load I am missing here.

UK: Brexit for the win! Tories who can’t stand each other but somehow hang on to power. Cost of living issues running wild. Immigration issues tearing a country apart. And how did that extra 350 million pounds a week on the NHS go, hmm? And is the monarchy still relevant now that much loved Lizzie has passed on the mantle to Chuckie?

China: the very, very big elephant in the room. The trade powerhouse. The hoarder of rare-earth metals. The mob who want Taiwan back and were pretty damn ruthless about how they reintegrated Hong Kong back into mainland China. And of course there is the Party overseeing everything. A party of one. Xi. He rules, no one else. He replaces people in an instant when they don’t toe the line. They tend to disappear, quicker than Alexei Navalny in fact. They’ve had their own fair share of natural disasters of late – earthquakes, super typhoons, droughts, just to name a few. Political dissent is not allowed to exist in China so I guess if Xi says Happy New Year then it is a bloody Happy New Year whether you like it or not.

Europe: immigration from Africa is a massive problem, Hungary are deciding they don’t want to play as part of the EU now and demand their own rules, rise of right-wing populist governments all across Europe, Turkiye – are they in or out of the EU? Sweden and Finland going in – is it really worth it after seeing what is happening in Ukraine and the reticence now of member states to put in to help Ukraine. As I said in another post ages ago – will your fellow member states bleed for you? I highly doubt it.

Island nations: sorry, you’re fucked. No one cares. COP28 certainly didn’t. And neither did any one before it either. Oh, we’ll start a support fund to give you some cash. And how does that help when your country is underwater? When all of those nations giving you cash tell you how sacred their land is to their nation. So how is it supposed to be different for you?

Antarctica: smallest winter sea ice ever recorded. Oh dear, no joy here. Au revoir West Antarctican Ice Sheet. Coming soon to a coastline near you.

Australia: ah, no one gives a shit about what happens to us or what we think anyway. (Been covered to death in earlier posts/rants)

New Zealand: new right wing government could make things interesting in an “oh shit” kind of way, especially with the Waitangi Treaty being talked about. Otherwise, see entry for Australia.

Rest of the world: cost of living skyrocketing, effective wages decreasing, climate change impacts increasing, standard of living decreasing. Yep, it is all good, right?

Wealthy folk: actually these lot probably are having a ball. I’m sure that like in Australia they are expecting healthy tax cuts, more opportunities to buy government infrastructure and businesses on the cheap and luckily for them I’m not running the country and taxing them so hard they bleed out of their eyeballs. The fact that people are homeless due to natural disasters or other reasons, not feeding themselves properly so they can feed and clothe their kids and so on while the wealthy go out and buy another super yacht or a country mansion or a $50,000 fucking handbag makes me want to retch. Actually, it makes me want to punch them in the face but I’m a pacifist. Mostly.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Somehow.