The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum – Security Prison 21 – Pol Pot’s torture centre!

No trip to Cambodia is complete without a visit to the horrors of Pol Pot and his horrendous torture chambers. The homicidal maniac killed millions in his killing fields and ran a regime of terror, murder and torture.

Security Prison 21 was just one of these terrible places.

Walking around looking at the shackles, implements of torture and painting and photographs one is left with a bewildering set of emotions – horror, disgust, disbelief, sadness, fury. It’s not a nice cocktail.

Walking past the photographs of stacks of skulls leaves one wondering how. How did this regime adopt such horrendous policies? How did everyone join in to carry out such atrocities? What is wrong with people? How did this start? How did a political philosophy become corrupted to become a tyranny? How could human beings do such horrendous things? How could anyone believe that this was OK?

At the end of our tour we met a guy who was a survivor of the camp and bought a small book that was his memoir. He’d witnessed the depravity. All such a short while before.

People are capable of such madness. How can these triggers be initiated?

We see it around the world today – the victims often become the perpetrators. It starts with a group regarding another group as subhuman.

Cambodia – Phnom Penh – Musicians at the Royal Palace – Photos

There were a band of musicians playing in a corner of the palace. I was interested in the instruments. One of the musicians seemed a tad young.

Roy Harper – Time Is Temporary

A brilliant track from the award winning album Man And Myth.

Roy Harper – Time Is Temporary – YouTube

Poetry – We have Too Much Information

We have Too Much Information

We don’t trust the government or the media.

It’s the truth that the wealthy are getting greedier.

That their corrupt ways are becoming even seedier.

The poor are forgotten and just becoming needier.

With QAnon spreading daft conspiracy,

Corruption, spin and political lunacy,

Intrusions on our phones into our privacy,

Who to trust is taking on immediacy.

Not believing what is written in the news,

Reported on TV or said in interviews,

People turn to the internet to reinforce their views.

Shrewd people manipulate items that they choose.

Truth and freedom can make a heady brew.

Government lies and spin has torn apart the glue.

So many people who don’t know what to do.

We have too much information and little of it is true!

10.2.2021

I think the media and politicians have brought this on themselves. Their lies, spin and bias have undermined the truth. Nobody trusts them anymore.

They do not believe what they are being told.

They turn to the internet to find the truth.

But they are fed more lies and conspiracy theories that are absurd.

They are being manipulated by shrewd operators and conmen.

Brexit, Trump and Erdogan, Bolsonaro and QAnon.

The world is flat, Trump is fighting alien lizards, there is no global warming, the holocaust never happened and they are eating babies on Capitol hill.

The deep state spread lies about the deep state.

The establishment pretends to be anti-establishment.

Billionaires pose as champions of the people.

The glue of society is becoming unstuck.

We are bombarded with information with no way of telling what is true and what isn’t or who is targeting us.

Too much information. Too little truth.

The Corona Diaries – Day 324

When I started this I did not think I would still be writing in 324 days later. I’m now beginning to think that I might be going up to 400 or even 500 days! That’s a lot of time!

I can’t help thinking that it is due to complete incompetency. They do not seem to be suffering in Australia, Singapore, Vietnam ot New Zealand do they?

Sometimes this endless isolation does get me down. There are days when I feel depressed and completely lacking in motivation. Then I have to think about how lucky I am.

I’m retired and have no job to lose. I have a steady income from my pension.

None of my family have lost their jobs and none of them have become really ill.

I live in a nice house, am warm and well fed. I even have a supply of wine.

I have a wife to share with. We haven’t killed each other yet.

We both have lots to do. I have my music, my writing, my reading and enough films, sport and drama on the TV to keep me entertained.

I live in a nice part of the country so that I can go on great daily walks.

I’m really spoilt. I can’t complain.

Yet I miss that contact, those gigs, my friends, seeing the kids, theatre, cinema and normal interaction. I find it hard to treat everyone as a threat and keep distance, wear a mask and watching everything with suspicion. It’s a stress that depletes energy.

Today I’ve been reading my Robert Harris Book and my Harari one too. I’ve been playing Doctor John and editing my Roy Harper book. I went for a two hour walk up my hill in the snow and looked out over a fabulous snowy landscape in bright sunshine.

It’s not exactly prison is it?

Out there in Coronaland the madness continues. Our inept government have the worst record in the world and yet retain a slight lead in the polls. What does it take to wake people up??

They continue to panic and dither. We finally have some restrictions and checks at our borders. It’s only taken a year!!!

The trouble is that they’ve gone mad. They’ve introduced draconian expensive hotel quarantine costing £1700 with threats of ten year prison sentences for anyone trying to evade the isolation.

Well it is about time isn’t it? We should have been carrying out health checks on all people entering the country. When I visited Hong Kong during the SARS outbreak I had to fill out medical information, had a health check with temperature being taken and all details of where I was staying and where I was going. We’ve had a year of letting anyone in with no restrictions or checks.

Madness.

It’s the variants that are causing the panic. They think that if the variants become established the vaccines won’t work.

I reckon it’s time to sack Dido Harding and give Track and Trace to the NHS. They are doing a great job with the vaccine. Over 13 million vaccinated now!

There is good news on vaccines. The Pfizer gives 65% protection after the first jab and that goes up to 84% after the second. The WHO has recommended the AstraZeneca for the over 65s. They will both probably prevent all the known variants from killing people.

The debate is still going on the ‘vaccine passport’. I bet that there are going to be a lot of places only opening to vaccinated people – cinemas, theatres, clubs, airlines, holidays……………… There is not much different between proof of vaccination and a passport.

I guess I think that if people want to decline the vaccine then they have to pay the price. There is an element of social responsibility in being vaccinated isn’t there? It helps us reach herd immunity and thus makes all of us safer and gets us back to normal!

Anyway, What do you think?

Stay safe!!! The nigh will end!!

The Tory Government. David Schneider sums it up!

They really are terrible!

Today’s Music to keep me SsSaaAaAnnNNnEeEe in Isolation – Doctor John – Gris Gris -The Night Tripper.

When psychedelia meets New Orleans R&B for a superb sixties album. Walk on Gilded Splinters is wonderful.

D̤r̤.̤J̤o̤h̤n̤-Gris Gris- 1968 Full Album – YouTube

Immigration – Some questions

Immigration generates passion. We see it being used by politicians to whip up hysteria. We have Enoch Powell’s ‘river of blood’ speech. We have Farage’s threat of 5 million Turks descending on Britain. We hear Trump talking about Muslim’s being terrorists and Mexicans being rapists, murderers and drug dealers. We hear of little Pakistan and little India being set up in the north of England. We hear of towns being taken over by eastern Europeans. We are told that our culture is under threat and we are being usurped.

Everything is distorted or exaggerated. What is the truth?

Aren’t we really all the descendants of immigrants?

Do wealthy countries have an obligation to take in refugees fleeing from war or repression?

Do wealthy countries have an obligation to take in refugees from countries suffering economic chaos?

Is it in the interests of wealthy countries, with low birth rates, to take in a workforce from outside?

Don’t immigrants work hard and carry out work that people in the wealthy countries do not want to do?

Do immigrants take jobs from the indigenous population?

Don’t immigrants work for low wages which is good for the economy?

Don’t immigrants put in more than they take out?

Don’t immigrants put a strain on our institutions – schools and health services?

Don’t immigrants have an obligation to fit into their adopted country’s culture – learn its language, adopt its dress codes, accept its moral codes, religion and ethos?

Aren’t tolerant countries able to absorb a variety of cultures and religions?

Should a country refuse to accept immigrants whose cultural practices are greatly different?

Can a liberal country cope with taking in cultures who are illiberal?

Should a country tolerate intolerance in immigrants?

Doesn’t it take generations for people to assimilate?

Isn’t it enriching for a culture to to have a variety of inputs from other cultures?

Doesn’t the host culture benfit from this enrichment in areas such as cuisine, fashion, art, music, literature and philosophy?

Should immigrants hang on to their culture (religion, dress code, language, morality, philosophy) and refuse to compromise it?

Can a liberal culture tolerate intolerant attitudes (racism, misogyny, religious intolerance)?

Is the host culture entitled to feel threatened if they see their own culture being usurped?

Cambodia – Phnom Penh – The Royal Palace – Photos

We stayed in a hotel around the corner from the Royal Palace. We strolled along to have a look around. It was very bright, lavish and gold.

Cambodia Phnom Penh – a street parade. – Photos

We arrived in Phnom Penh to find a street parade taking place. It seemed to have some religious theme but I don’t know. The kids were certainly enjoying it.