Video Games and Reality

Sure we all know that playing video games is escapism and not reality, and few of us anymore buy the old nut that violence in some video games is the cause of much of the violence in our society. Growing up in the 80s and 90s I was an avid gamer, no – I was an addict. It started way back with my first ‘Personal Computer,’ the Commodore 64, and games like Dizzy and Rambo. A little later I was introduced to the concept of the ‘god’ or ‘strategy game’ with Armageddon Man. This sense of control over my little digital universe inspired me to seek out games of strategy on and off the computer or the games console. So we went through Megalomania and Sim City and a whole host of other like ‘wastes of time’ until we arrived at Civilization. Civ was so completely unlike the other games that we had played before. It put us in control of the armies that we had been used to and brought us into the diplomacy and conflict that we were familiar with already from playing Monopoly and Risk with the family. Yet it was so much more than this – it put us gamers in a world that was so much like the real world of the Cold War with its changing alliances, technological developments, wealth and trade, and nuclear weapons. For the little dictator in the making, this was the perfect first step into the grey area between wasting time and planning for the future.

Another Ceasefire has Not Ended the War

In Gaza there is a sad inevitability that this current ceasefire will not be the end of the conflict. While the tentative peace lasts the sides are busy negotiating the future, not only of Gaza but also that of the West Bank. Israel has never taken the discussions with Palestine seriously and has always managed to find a way around previous agreements in relation to the illegal occupation of the West Bank and the question of the Settlements which have been a central instrument in the cantonisation of the occupied territories. Israel and its US allies well know that a meaningful peace between Israel and a hypothetical Palestinian state will damage their colonial and strategic ambitions for the territories. Mahmoud Abbas, the Fatah leader of the Palestinian unity government, which is still supported by Hamas, is largely rejected by the people of Palestine as a US-Israeli stooge, and the fact that Operation Protective Edge did not include the invasion and systematic destruction of the West Bank does point in this direction. Since Arafat the US and Israel have been looking for a ‘moderate’ Palestinian who will be happy to accept a dictated peace on Israeli terms, and in Abbas they certainly do seem to have their man. Going on the past record of the State of Israel in using any pretext to invade Gaza in order to exterminate Hamas, it is unlikely that any of the demands of Hamas will be taken into consideration in the current negotiations.

US Seeks Coalition Against Islamic State

The United States is intensifying its push to build an international campaign against Islamic State jihadist fighters in Iraq and Syria, including recruiting partners for potential joint military action, Obama administration officials said on Wednesday. Britain and Australia are potential candidates, U.S. officials said. Germany said on Wednesday it was in talks with the United States and other international partners about possible military action against Islamic State but made clear it would not participate. “We are working with our partners and asking how they might be able to contribute. There are a range of ways to contribute: humanitarian, military, intelligence, diplomatic,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters. It’s unclear how many nations will sign up. Some such as trusted ally Britain harbour bitter memories of joining the U.S.-led “coalition of the willing” in the 2003 invasion of Iraq that included troops from 38 nations. Others such as France refused to join the action. The claims of the existence of weapons of mass destruction which spurred the coalition to act were found to be false.

Britain has a long tradition of economic migration. Over the past five hundred years England led the world in the colonial project by resettling people from the British Isles in far-flung parts of the world in the formation of the British Empire. In more recent times Britons have continued to migrate for economic and other […]

Politicians have long known the value of the language of ‘job creation’ and ‘profits’ for winning votes and securing power. Whatever the public perceive to be bad for employment will struggle to find representation in democratic parliaments, and so the political elite will frame election campaigns in the benefit of policy for wealth and job […]

Britain has a long tradition of economic migration. Over the past five hundred years England led the world in the colonial project by resettling people from the British Isles in far-flung parts of the world in the formation of the British Empire. In more recent times Britons have continued to migrate for economic and other […]

Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) or simply Ebola has resulted in more than 4,500 deaths in the past months in Western Africa. It is a serious viral disease that claims the lives of over 95% of those infected. Spread by fruit bat hosts, it infects other mammals and humans, but has a smaller R0 (rate of […]

Dispelling the myth of the ‘stingy Scot’ people all over Scotland have come together to kick out against the worst effects of a London driven austerity agenda. Central to the growing desire in Scotland for separation from the United Kingdom has been the idea of addressing the massive levels poverty in the country. Independence campaigners […]

Only in Ireland can we get away with saying that we might have told our Scottish neighbours so. Almost exactly one hundred years ago the whole island of Ireland secured the British promise of Home Rule. This was stalled so that young Irishmen could be sent out to trenches in their droves to fight and […]

Former Chair of Labour Friends of Israel set to Lead Scottish Labour

Those who have followed developments in Scotland over the past number of months will be acutely aware that the independence referendum campaign saw the division of two opinions on the political spectrum. On the one hand the Yes Scotland side of the debate was marked by its resistance to nuclear weapons and involvement in wars […]