One must wonder at times, whether the news reflects society, or society reflects the news..
There has been a noted increase of vilification and racial attacks in the chats these days, directed ether from the west at the east, or vice versa.. the baiting between the armchair factions much more vitriolic.. and while it offers a new level of entertainment value to the medium, it also leads one to ponder whether some of these who're playing the Game, are not in fact, serious.. presenting the views that not only stereotype racism and hatred but which are, in fact, their own.
This medium has opened an entirely new venue for the exchange of points of view, and for some has become a reality in which their former 'disabilities'.. their appearance, social status, manner of speech.. are erased.. A venue in which their thoughts will be heard without predisposition; where Homer doesn't need hair to be an executive... so to speak..
These are those who should be a concern, for it's allowed the previously inarticulate to absorb, and disseminate opinion, as fact. Those who can string words together in an appealing and seemingly intellectual manner, are seen as 'authorities', and at this stage in the assimilation of the computer into our daily lives, it's much like owning a CB back in the 70's, and accepting the word of 'BigBear' as gospel.

Ahhh.. 'tis the season to be desperate..
There are few things lacking in this world, for those willing to either pay the price, or work towards an end.. however it seem intelligent conversation falls outside this general rule.. what began as a noble experiment, this internet chat experience has turned into an exercise in futility for most.. a juvenile forum for public subnormal intellectual masturbation..
And it's so very serious for those who're involved. It's surrogation to an extreme..
Perhaps it's a case of 'many are called, but few are capable..'
The preparations for war in the Middle East march on uninterrupted.. Hussein is playing into the hands of the West by following the age old method of prevarication and delay which has worked so well within his own society for millennia.. but which serves only to underscore the difference between our ways of life..
I would suggest we find ourselves fully committed, by the end of the first week of the new year..

An event in chat this afternoon, and episode the likes of which is becoming more and more frequent..
While listening to todays version of the Three Stooges define the meaning of life, the universe, and Einsteins interpretations of the Ancient Pyramidal scrolls, which were discovered at the foot of the Sphynx..
Yes..
At any rate this episode involved one female chatter.. a regular in the rooms.. entering and brightly asking had anyone seen so-and-so.. nobody had.. so after a few moments while the panto played on, she announced that since there was nobody in the room other than 'blank'..and she couldn't stand 'blank'.. she would be off.. and so she was..
Now.. this is the curious part. The valediction was delivered in all seriousness, and with deliberate malicious intent. It was barbed, as only a deliberate slight can be.
What this indicates is the depth of feelings exhibited by those who congregate in chat.. the effect these computer-generated acquaintences have on their lives.. their 'real' lives.
Now considering the decline in the overall genepool, this may well be explained by accepting the theory that computer commnication.. anonymous friendships.. vicarious existences.. are being offered to those among us within society who would otherwise be simply locked away in rooms.. to rock silently back and forth while having mental conversations with the Marquis de Sade.. it may well be that soon..under the Homeland Protection Act, it will be manditory for all trailers to have a computer built-in. That all those within over the age of five, must either have displayed a propensity towards learning or have signed up with CheetaChat.
The vanguard is with us now.

ahh dear..
One has to shake one's head.. it would appear that the affluent.. for affluent to a degree one must be to afford a computer, and a subscription to unlimited time on the net.. are becoming jaded.. less informed.. more opinionated.. and frankly, boring..
Mind you.. in this day of social funding for the inept and incapable.. it's not beyond the realm of possibility that these expenses could be born by the state-supported individual.. and that would explain a great deal..
Perhaps it's to the point, where those with informed opinion are simply overwhelmed by the numbers of the great unwashed that now crowd the medium.. that they've retreated to some unpublished domain to hold their forums..
Gods know I've searched for them.. to date without success..
The way to war in the Middle East is clear..
The path to mediocrity on the net is now deep and rutted.. the footsteps of so many having worn a trench to the abyss of the lowest common denominator..

There's a new survey completed this morning..
The trend is most dramatic in Muslim societies, and some of the strongest anti-Americanism is in Egypt and Pakistan, according to the study by the US-based Pew Research Center.
After 38,000 interviews in 44 countries, researchers concluded that in the past two years discontent had also grown in countries considered traditional US allies.
But the survey also revealed that opinions about the US were "complicated and contradictory", with people at the same time embracing American things and decrying US influence on their societies.
The survey concludes that:
While there is growing dislike of the US, people in 35 out of 42 nations hold a generally favourable view of America,
In Russia, US popularity has enjoyed a surge - 61% of Russians have pro-US attitudes compared to 37% in 2000,
Dislike of America is concentrated in the Muslim nations of the Middle East and Central Asia,
America's war on terror enjoys support outside the Muslim world,
People in Canada, Germany and France - traditional American allies - are more critical about US policy and business practices than people in Africa and Asia,
British public opinion is evenly split, while most Americans favour military action.
In Turkey, 83% of respondents said they were against the US using Turkish bases in the event of a war in Iraq.
And the beat goes on..

Reports were wrong.. that McDonald's bombing was in Jakarta.. close enough though..
I've found myself wandering the chats of late.. looking for a consensus on the religious and political upheaval. It's been a frustrating and somewhat futile exercise, for what I've seen is the deterioration of rooms which at one time, were real forums for the exchange of thought. These days it seems to be a collective of sychophants, pursuing pseudo-intellectuals about with tongues lolling, with very little said of substance, discounting the new scatalogical phrases I've managed to pick up along the way..
Is this the realization of the old saw 'familliarity breeds contempt..'?
'Tis a shame when all people have to offer in the way of intellectual exchange, is a collection of blanket statements, instant statistics, and poorly digested snippets of fact picked up from a glance at the eleven o'clock news.
Even worse, when this is the total of their philosophical and moral ruminations as well..
Where once the Net was used by those with something to say, now it appears to be the tool of those with nothing of substance to impart, and a prodidgeous amount of time to share it.

Variations on the theme.
At this moment.. we have an investigation underway in a McDonald bombing in East Timor.. we have Taliban forces fighting what they claim are Al Q'aeda cells in Afghanistan.. with American and British Special Forces lending a willing hand.. We have terror threats against the new Islamic majority government in Turkey.. and Turkey agreeing to allow the United States to use it's facilities if an invasion of Iraq is decided upon. We have the Saudi's pissed with their traditional ally, the US, and the US tossing allegations of Saudi complicity in the 911 disaster about like confetti..
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the average American man-in-the-chats is stumping in either of two directions.. 'pro' or 'anti' George Bush.. their's is not a concern with what's happening in the rest of the world, for they truely believe that 911 was an abberation, and will not likely repeat.. They've once again retreated to their armchairs.. chips and dip with a couple of beers nearby, to watch armageddon on television.. It's my opinion that many feel if they miss it at eleven.. they'll see it on CNN later..
Jaysus..
Ramadan is over now..
Watch this space..

Right then.
This effort is directed primarily at myself, to maintain a public record of that which I've extrapolated from the developing situations surrounding us. But it's also a commentary of that which I've seen developing in the common(sic) public mind, through interaction within chatrooms, and the depth to which some of these become integral to the users everyday existence.
Let me begin by stating the obvious. We are in the midst of events which will most certainly lead our civilisation into drastic change. A schism has developped between East and West, perhaps instigated by the East as it's developed a sense of autonomy with it's oil wealth, but one which is based on the most volotile of man's 'causes', faith. We have America's George Bush, and Britains Tony Blair, giving lip-service to 'patriotism' and 'anti-terrorism', poised to invade a country already locked in deep depression and not yet recovered from the effects of the last Visit the Americans paid. To be fair, we have Mullah's whipping the immemorial chant 'death to the infidel', and declaring fatwah as though they were party favours, while literally telling their followers that 'to die killing the Infidel is a glorious death for Islam..'. We have an apalling increase in the numbers of Islamic young men and women, who are willing to strap themselves about with C-2, take the crosstown bus in Jerusalem, and make a somewhat sudden, if not unplanned stop, as close to a dense crowd as possible.
Now, were this confined to the Middle East, it would not be particularly noticable perhaps, what with the inevidable escallation of Palistinian/Israeli relations. But it is not. It has hit the USA itself, not to mention Bali, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kurdistan, The UK, France, in short, most of the world. The battlelines are beng drawn, and they include everywhere.
It's going to be quite an adjustment for some, taking violence and war from their television screens, and transposing it to the street outside their house.