Hua Guofang

vigilante style revenge worthy.

Glad you got your book back this time. Epic process but I gotta say, I didn't expect things to move too much faster than that. If we only lost that one book, which was replaced in the end, then I reckon things worked out pretty well. Ready to post pics when everyone else is.

I'm more cynical of the human race in general rather than groups of elites within it as you are. We've always had wars, brutality, minority persecution, etc. Read A Booke of Days, it's not non-fiction but a historically based novel of the First Crusades. Then read the Bible, again, probably fiction but also a historical account of the period - etc etc. Humans are cunts and we have been so for as long as our history. I don't think the elites need to manufacture conflict and disaster, it's the nature of things already. What seems more likely is that elites find ways to shape events to benefit from them, the war on drugs and the war on terror would be two excellent examples. Drugs happen anyway but if you can facilitate a particular actor, lubricate a particular logistics chain and encourage a particular policy you can place yourself to benefit from the situation. Same could be said about the war on terror. Terrorism is real and has been occurring for thousands of years (the Zealot Sicaraii used tactics defined as terrorism almost two thousand years ago) and is manipulated for political gain, I don't think anyone needs to go to the effort of making this kind of shit up from scratch. Get a cup of coffee, read a paper and wait as a crisis of some sort is sure to be along soon. Just be sure you're well place to benefit from it when it arrives. One thing that fucks me is how people are doing the whole "hands up" protest now yet you still see the cops openly pointing gats at them. That's just dumbness and bad training. I understand that situations like that are dangerous and you can't be complacent. I've been a group of seven, fully armed up against about two thousand. The mob wasn't against us but the person we had in our custody (peace keeping role in a fucked up country) and the guy in our custody had been caught stealing a foam mattress so the owner fingered him as part of the pro-XXXXXXX militia - the mob would have literally pulled his body to pieces. The people at the front of the mob - and we were totally encircled on this street - were unarmed, but who knows what was 3 people deep in to the crowd? Guns, sharpened metal rods, Molotovs, hand grenades? If the people in the front aren't armed there's no point in aiming your gat at them, it's the people lurking behind that are the threat. That's why it's clear that many of the cops in Ferg right now are either not trained well or not well disciplined by the way they have reacted to the crisis - leveling your weapon at some one ten meters away that is clearly unarmed is pointless. Much of their behaviour has resulted in escalation the situation rather than de-escalation. I've had conversations with some US cops due to roles I've worked in and I've always been astounded by their mentality of "look out for your partners and back them up regardless". I've even asked straight out, what if your partner has acted illegally or immorally. None of them have ever said straight out that they wouldn't back them up, it's usually "I don't know man, I hope I'm never in that situation because you never let your side down, you gotta stick together". Kind of makes them more of a militia than an arm of law enforcement.

I know it's not fashionable to think about the situation like this but I reckon opinions on the initial killing should be reserved. Correct me if I'm wrong, as I'm sure people will, but we really don't know what happened yet, do we? All we know is that one dude is dead and a cop killed him but we don't know the actual situation, right? His mate says his hands were up and he wasn't resisting. However we'd all say the same thing if it was our mate regardless of what actually happened. That's not to say that he IS lying, just that we really wouldn't have a fucking shmick as to what really happened. The way the cops are reacting to it doesn't look good at all, I don't think there has even been an official statement as to what happened, is there? That does not suggest innocence on behalf of the cop involved. But then again, if the footage from the shop a few minutes earlier is accurate the dude who got shot doesn't look like the kind of person who'd react passively to a cop telling him to get off the road either. Fucked if I know what happened and I reckon there's probably only a small handful of people that do. /awaits angry response.

That's behaviour more suited to govts in China, Egypt and Russia. Shameful stuff.

Bit of a page filler, but here you go anyway.

It's certainly a perfect example of how fucking pointless Fairfax media is these days - top 5 stories are Robin W. Fucking vultures. However I was satisfied to see the ABC TV news have it down the list as a story. And don't worry, you're going to see Russia/Ukraine shoot up the charts in the very near future as a news story again. Iraq is also still pretty high in terms of coverage and importance. It all may be tabloidesque vulturism in the news and the moment but never fear, true suffering and brutality will be back, front and center on your TV screen soon enough.

Monsters. Be afraid.

I don't know man. I've had dudes close to me with every reason to live - top wife, great kids, enviable career and all that - off themselves though depression. I also know a bunch of peeps dealing with it and still living. We can all get depressed but having your brain, your mind, your own logic fuck with you is a quantum leap away from what anyone who doesn't have it can understand. I don't suffer from it at all but those who do that have enunciated it to me in a way that resonated really helped me to understand the irrationality of it and how it does not stand up to reason. I also have a minor in psych and am very clear on how the physiology of your brain can very much dictate who you are and what you do. I've had a close mate go from strong (worked on doors with him, could twist your head off whilst giving you a smiling lecture on the values of good manners and propriety) and normal with hot GF, good prospects to dead on the road in front of me because he didn't want to fight the voices in his head any longer. His problem was schizophrenia. Chemical imbalance is an easy term to use and throw away but it is hugely real and the power it has over those who live with it is something those who are free can hardly grasp. Fucking Nigels and pea-hearts off themselves from depression. Normal dudes with decent lives off themselves from depression. Hard men who lead can off themselves from depression. People on top of the world with everything to live for off themselves from depression. Hard to argue against that kind of power.

shore, share?

excellent.

Never get tired of Unique's kit.

Fuckin love them.

I love the fact that there is even a genre of clothing called "street wear".

I'm ready to go.

something to keep the thread moving - B.day card for a friend

China thanks the world for the distraction.

Preachin to the choir, mate. This is the last semester of my masters, by Nov I'll have a life again. Couldn't be assed mixing the scraps. Just collecting a pile for a huge scraps piece. Just moved house where I have a bunch more space, might get in to mixing some colours when I get my weekends back.

Just looking back I realise that I've only had time to hit the walls about 4-5 times since I took that last pic...., although I've continued to stock up. Each time there was a sale at the auto shop I'd drop in and pick a few, each birthday or xmas anyone that wanted to get me something was sent the link to an online paint shop. The stuff in the crate below are halfies and I've also added to my mega-box of cans 30% and less. Thought I'd have more time to paint in between semesters but ended up moving house and other shit that only allowed me out once. Semester is about to start again and looks like I'll get little time to paint in the next 4 months. So, stocks will probably continue to grow again....

Agree to a point as I think "very few" is overstating things. Reputable airlines such as BA and Sing. were still using it as far as I'm aware, however there was an Antonov shot down there a week prior and the new warning reflected that. So there's good reason why some airlines were avoiding it. In saying that, I've lost count how many times I've flown over Afghanistan, Iraq, etc. in commercial aircraft as they've been active conflict zones.

Sydney rail from 1980-2000 was just awesomeness. I don't know when this was taken but it brings back some memories and nostalgia for me.

That's pretty much what I've been doing up until now, ending up with a pretty dark grey. Wanting to expand out a bit these days with some purples, dark blues, deep reds and so on. All I really need to do is work out a cheap method of tinting the bases I have without fucking them up (yep, def cant' mix acrylic with oil) and then I can experiment. Need to friend up some one working in a paint shop/factory who can hook me up with a range of tints.

The concussion that would have occurred as the warhead detonated would have knocked the shit out of everyone on the aircraft. If by chance they were still alive they would have been pretty incoherent. Also the aircraft is flying at a speed of hundreds of miles per hour. You're thrust out in to the open at that speed you're getting so heavily buffeted that you're' probably in sensory overload. When an aircraft breaks up mid-flight most of the bodies are naked as they are traveling so fast in the air that their clothes are ripped from their bodies. What's happening now is that the pro-Russian rebels will be taking their time to allow independent investigators on to the crash site as they go through the area removing any and all parts of the missile that may indicate that it was Russian supplied. Everyone knows that Russia is responsible for this (clearly not an intentional act, pretty major fuck up though), doesn't seem like anyone other than Australia is willing to point the finger though. Australia has the luxury to do this though as they are on the other side of the world, would never be expected to send military as a response and there is little trade between the two nations that could be effect by a souring of relations. Given that I am Australian though, Putin can go fuck himself and I'd much prefer his invitation to the G20 in Brisbane to be revoked. Our PM is a boxer, Putin is a Judo guy, reckon we should put them both in the cage to sort this shit out.

Suggesting that MAS is in anyway responsible for this incident is a bit ignorant. BA, Sing. and a bunch of other tier 1 airlines were flying this route. It was just stupidly bad luck that MAS copped this only a few months after MH370.

I don't think anyone is in any doubt that the Russians are facilitating the rebels/separatists/numpties - Putin could publicly back away all he wants but it would make SFA difference. Firstly, as I mentioned, Russia's national defence is more important than a Malaysian aircraft (may have been different if it was German, French, British, Polish, American, etc.) and that means this will not force Russia to back off. Secondly, those involved in making decisions are well aware of Russia's imperatives and no matter what Russia/Putos says publicly they will expect Russia to continue with defending their sphere of influence.