The Cat in the Middle East

The cat (the psychotic government) is trying to persuade the kids (the  people) into playing games that will cause destruction. The Goldfish (the pro democracy protester), who warns children about the dangers of going along with the cat’s game, is proved right in the end but gets beaten up in the process (the security apparatus ).
At the end, they tell him to please go away and take his thing(s) with him, because their mother is coming home. He cleans up (covers up) his wrongdoings and leaves, just as the mother arrives. Then, the narrator asks "Would you tell your parents ( the international Criminal Court) if it happened to you?"
Good old Theodor Geisel relevant today as back in 1957 when he first wrote these words.


“The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house All that cold, cold, wet day.
I sat there with Sally, we sat there we two. And I said, “How I wish we had something to do!” Too wet to go out and too cold to play ball. So we sat in the house. We did nothing at all. So all we could do was to Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! And we did not like it. Not one little bit. And then something went BUMP! How that bump made us jump! We looked! Then we saw him step in on the mat! We looked! And we saw him! The Cat in the Hat! And he said to us, “Why do you sit there like that?” “I know it is wet And the sun is not sunny. But we can have lots of good fun that is funny!” “I know some good games we could play,” Said the cat. “I know some new tricks,” Said the Cat in the Hat. “A lot of good tricks. I will show them to you. Your mother Will not mind at all if I do.” Then Sally and I Did not know what to say. Our mother was out of the house For the day. But the fish said, “No! No! Make that cat go away! Tell that Cat in the Hat you do NOT want to play. He should not be here. He should not be about. He should not be here When your mother is out!” “Now! Now! Have no fear. Have no fear!” said the cat. “My tricks are not bad,” Said the Cat in the Hat. “Why, we can have lots of good fun, if you wish, With a game that I call UP UP UP with a fish!” “Put me down!” said the fish. “This is no fun at all! Put me down!” said the fish. “I do NOT wish to fall!” “Have no fear!” said the cat. “I will not let you fall. I will hold you up high as I stand on a ball. With a book on one hand! And a cup on my hat! But that is not ALL I can do!” said the cat… “Look at me! Look at me now!” said the cat. “With a cup and a cake on the top of my hat! I can hold up TWO books! I can hold up the fish! And a little toy ship! And some milk on a dish! And look! I can hop up and down on the ball! But that is not all! Oh, no. That is not all… “Look at me! Look at me! Look at me NOW! It is fun to have fun But you have to know how. I can hold up the cup And the milk and the cake! I can hold up these books! And the fish on a rake! I can hold the toy ship And a little toy man! And look! With my tail I can hold a red fan! I can fan with the fan As I hop on the ball! But that is not all. Oh, no. That is not all…” That is what the cat said… Then he fell on his head! He came down with a bump from up there on the ball. And Sally and I, We saw ALL the things fall! And our fish came down, too. He fell into a pot! He said, “Do I like this? Oh, no! I do not. This is not a good game,” Said our fish as he lit. “No, I do not like it, Not one little bit!” “Now look what you did!” Said the fish to the cat. “Now look at this house! Look at this! Look at that! You sank our toy ship, Sank it deep in the cake. You shook up our house And you bent our new rake. You SHOULD NOT be here when our mother is not. You get out of this house!” Said the fish in the pot. “But I like it here. Oh, I like it a lot!” Said the Cat in the Hat To the fish in the pot. “I will NOT go away. I do NOT wish to go! And so,” said the Cat in the Hat, “So so so… I will show you Another good game that I know!” And then he ran out. And then, fast as a fox, The Cat in the Hat Came back in with a box. A big red wood box. It was shut with a hook. “Now look at this trick,” Said the cat. “Take a look!” Then he got up on top With a tip of his hat. “I call this game FUN IN A BOX,” Said the cat. “In this box are two things I will show to you now. You will like these two things,” Said the cat with a bow. “I will pick up the hook. You will see something new. Two things. And I call them Thing One and Thing Two. These things will not bite you. They want to have fun.” Then, out of the box Came Thing Two and Thing One! And they ran to us fast. They said, “How do you do? Would you like to shake hands With Thing One and Thing Two?” And Sally and I did not know what to do. So we had to shake hands With Thing One and Thing Two. We shook their two hands. But our fish said, “No! No! Those Things should not be In this house! Make them go! “They should not be here When your mother is not! Put them out! Put them out!” Said the fish in the pot. “Have no fear, little fish,” Said the Cat in the Hat. “These things are good Things.” And he gave them a pat. “They are tame. Oh, so tame! They have come here to play. They will give you some fun On this wet, wet day.” “Now, here is a game that they like,” Said the cat. “They like to fly kites,” Said the Cat in the Hat. “No! Not in the house!” Said the fish in the pot. “They should not fly kites In a house! They should not. Oh, the things they will bump! Oh, the things they will hit! Oh, I do not like it! Not one little bit!” Then Sally and I Saw them run down the hall. We saw those two Things Bump their kites on the wall! Bump! Thump! Thump! Bump! Down the wall in the hall. Thing Two and Thing One! They ran up! They ran down! On the string of one kite We saw Mother’s new gown! Her gown with the dots That are pink, white and red. Then we saw one kite bump On the head of her bed! Then those Things ran about With big bumps, jumps and kicks And with hops and big thumps And all kinds of bad tricks. And I said, “I do NOT like the way that they play! If Mother could see this, Oh, what would she say!” Then our fish said, “Look! Look!” And our fish shook with fear. “Your mother is on her way home! Do you hear? Oh, what will she do to us? What will she say? Oh, she will not like it To find us this way!” “So, DO something! Fast!” said the fish. “Do you hear! I saw her. Your mother! Your mother is near! So, as fast as you can, Think of something to do! You will have to get rid of Thing One and Thing Two!” So, as fast as I could, I went after my net. And I said, “With my net I can get them I bet. I bet, with my net, I can get those Things yet!” Then I let down my net. It came down the a PLOP! And I had them! At last! Those two Things had to stop. Then I said to the cat, “Now, you do as I say. You pack up those Things And you take them away!” “Oh dear!” said the cat. “You did not like our game… Oh dear. What shame! What a shame! What a shame!” Then he shut up the Things In the box with the hook. And the cat went away With a sad kind of look. “That is good said the fish.”He has gone away. Yes. But your mother will come. She will find this big mess! And this mess is so big And so deep and so tall, we can not pick it up. There is no way at all!” And THEN! Who was back in the house? Why, the cat! “Have no fear of this mess,” Said the Cat in the Hat. “I always pick up all my playthings And so… I will show you another good trick that I know!” Then we saw him pick up all the things that were down. He picked up the cake, And the rake, And the gown, And the milk, and the strings, And the books, and the dish, And the fan, and the cup, And the ship, and the fish. And he put them away. Then he said, “That is that.” And then he was gone, with the tip of his hat. Then our mother came in And said said to us two, “Did you have any fun? Tell me. What did you do?” And Sally and I did not know What to say. Should we tell her The things that went on there that day? She we tell her about it? Now, what SHOULD we do? Well… what would YOU do If you mother asked YOU?”




Let us hope the International Criminal Court asks him. Happy International Workers Day.

An eye for an eye

As each Friday becomes another blood bath in the Middle East, the impotent response from the International Community to the continuing homicidal brutality of the Syrian regime is a Carte Blanche for the further murder and repression of innocent civilians.
Violation of human rights have become commonplace as crimes against humanity go unpunished. Unless there is a clear message by the International Community that there is a moral will to stop the tragedy that is unfolding there.
The Good Doctor has taken to violent repression like water off a ducks back. The son of a duck is a floater, however he has squandered any legitimacy he may have had when he ordered the first protester shot.
Regime change in Syria is inevitable and will in time prove to be good for the region as it will focus Israel into making a comprehensive peace with its neighbours instead of the cold peace they have been enjoying up till now.
The longer Assad stays and the more he kills the more likely civil war could break out as unarmed protesters who are intermarried with many of the regional tribes bordering Syria  go back to the adage of an eye for an eye and " Haq Arab", in their search for revenge. Kinship is still an important part of daily life.
This repulsive regime has to be removed and fast, as any leadership that uses torture arbitrary detention and murder as tools of governance has no place in this world.

Weddings and murders

On a day that saw a spectacular Royal wedding with a pomp and pageantry that inspires people all over the world to cause one commentator to say " since when has our Royal family become the worlds royal family" the Royal family  in Bahrain ordered the brutal rape and killing of Bahraini poet Ayat Al Ghemezi.
The familiar orders from above as security forces intimidated her family are a testament that this royal family is no longer fit for purpose.
The days of mass killings have to be brought to a halt.  As Gaddafi releases drugged up hooligans on Viagra to rape and pillage in order to sow more confusion into the already volatile situation in Libya and Assad deploys snipers and tanks to repress his people at Friday prayers as ten thousand in Damascus protest for regime change the less brave  stay frightened  at home.
Yemen still a point of potential violence it seems that the International community has lost it's moral will as it juggles business considerations over human dignity and freedom.
Today's wedding was great as it showed the world that Britain had social responsibility and dignity, that monarchies need not be repressive and can be loved not only by their own citizens but by the world at large, so long as they exhibit a humility and do not forget that they lead by example.
King Farouk was right when he said there would soon be only five Kings left. The King of. England and the four Kings in a pack of cards.

Somebody pushed the envelope

I thought this was interesting.


Push the envelope

Meaning

To attempt to extend the current limits of performance. To innovate, or go beyond commonly accepted boundaries.

Origin

This phrase came into general use following the publication Tom Wolfe's book about the space programme - The Right Stuff, 1979:

"One of the phrases that kept running through the conversation was ‘pushing the outside of the envelope’... [That] seemed to be the great challenge and satisfaction of flight test."

Wolfe didn't originate the term, although it's appropriate that he used it in a technical and engineering context, as it was first used in the field of mathematics.

The envelope here isn't the container for letters, but the mathematical envelope, which is defined as 'the locus of the ultimate intersections of consecutive curves'. In a two-dimensional example, the set of lines described by the various positions of a ladder sliding down a wall forms an envelope - in this case an arc, gently curving away from the intersection of the wall and floor. Inside that envelope you will be hit by the ladder; outside you won't.

(Note for the mathematically inclined: it might seem intuitive that the centre point of the ladder would follow that same arc. In fact it describes a circle centred around the origin).

That's enough mathematics. The point is that an envelope is that which envelops. The phrase has something in common with an earlier one - 'beyond the pale'. Inside the pale you were safe; outside, at risk.

In aviation and aeronautics the term 'flight envelope' had been in use since WWII, as here from the Journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society, 1944:

"The best known of the envelope cases is the 'flight envelope', which is in general use in this country and in the United States... The ‘flight envelope’ covers all probable conditions of symmetrical maneuvering flight."

That envelope is the description of the upper and lower limits of the various factors that it is safe to fly at, i.e. speed, engine power, manoeuvrability, wind speed, altitude etc. By 'pushing the envelope', i.e. testing those limits, test pilots were able to determine just how far it was safe to go. By 1978 the phrase was in use in print. In July that year, Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine had:

"The aircraft's altitude envelope must be expanded to permit a ferry flight across the nation. NASA pilots were to push the envelope to 10,000 ft."

The following year, Wolfe picked up the phrase and it went from a piece of specialist technical jargon into the general language.

Poor people are angry people.

With the failure of the United Nations Security Council to come up with a resolution  as there was a lack of support for  a draft proposed by France, Britain, Germany and Portugal for the condemnation of the Syrian crackdown on protesters it will be interesting to hear what the regime makes of the resignation of the two hundred odd Ba'ath  party members over the homicidal use of violence.
Certainly the conditions for regime change in Syria are there after years of economic stagnation and lack of participation the majority Sunni population deserve the freedom we all enjoy in the West , with or without World powers blessing. Though Saudi Arabia may offer this repulsive regime a lifeline by helping to slow the rate of information being fed to the street by demanding its Al Arabiya satellite channel stops reporting from there and blocking it's Thuraya mobile communications system.
Though Syria has been enjoying a cold peace with Israel  the time has come for Israel to realize that change is inevitable and therefore they have to approach the Palestinian - Israeli  solution with fairness and rapidly.
 Where Hafez Al Assad the current dictators ruthless father excelled in taking advantage of Syria’s value to Israel and the United States as a key player in Arab politics and as the symbolic stronghold of radical Arab nationalism, the Good Doctor though learning fast the ways of brutal dictatorship is not up to the task.
There is a genuine opportunity after the West's failure to stop the repression in Bahrain to ease regime change in Syria, and stop the Arab Spring becoming a sectarian strife but one about enfranchisement economic and political participation . Poor people are angry people so we should not allow the conditions for long term chaos to thrive. 

Clowns and lion tamers.

Diogenes the Cynic used to go around Athens with a lamp in daylight claiming to be looking for an honest man. We could well use that lamp today as the morally contaminated society we live in corrupts our environment . Virtue is better served with actions rather than words.
With barely lip service being paid to the ongoing massacres that are happening in Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East as repressive authoritarian regimes attempt to cling on to power the conditions for longer term chaos are only increasing.
We are told to prepare for the long haul in Libya, which with already an estimated forty percent of it military incapacitated encourages other homicidal leaders to hang on longer as the impotence and lack of coherent strategy being exhibited by NATO only emboldens them.
If these despots are not made accountable to the world for their ruthlessness then we are  in for a dark period indeed.

Club Secretary: I say, Lawrence. You are a clown!
T.E. Lawrence: Ah, well, we can't all be lion tamers. 

It's raining bullets

 Syrian media outlet Al Watan reported on Saturday that the protesters in Midan near Damascus had taken to the streets to celebrate the rain rather than protest against the bloodthirsty Assad regime. It defies belief that in this day and age the Asaad regime thinks that they can continue to violate the people's intelligence.
As tanks and snipers continue to be deployed against unarmed peaceful protesters the world shamefully can only condemn the use of violence exposing the hypocritical approach to Middle East foreign policy.
The days of the Bashar Al Asaad are numbered and without doubt he should be tried for crimes against humanity. Syria being a repressive authoritarian police state it is ridiculous for them to continue to blame outside influences , Salfiti Islamic provocateurs or Israeli spies for the demonstrations and resulting massacres. Syria has been enjoying a cold peace with Israel and given all of the minority Alawites are in control of the armed forces and intelligence apparatus it is a hard sell that these extremists just appeared from nowhere as much as it is unbelievable they did not have a hand in Rafik Hariri's assassination .
Meanwhile the UAE have continued their crackdown on dissent just weeks  after arresting three human right activists. The move is just further evidence of the lack of respect shown by the authoritarian regime for the rule of law and respect of human dignity.
Mad Mo Gaddafi  is seen prancing about after NATO's strike on his compound failed to take him out giving rise to the North Koreans telling the Chinese that if that is the best Americas got they have nothing to worry about.
Palestinian Authority President Abu Mazin claims Obama left him in the lurch using a witty  metaphor of being left up a tree without a ladder, he must have a new script writer as he is not known for his brilliance.
Brace yourselves for the Arab Spring to turn into a hot summer.