- Signs of the Times for Thu, 21 Sep 2006 -

• Signs Editorials
• Ponerology in Action
• War Crimes, War Crimes...
• And More War Crimes
• Zionism in Action
• UN: Useless Nations
• Big Mama Ain't Happy
• For Your Health
• For Richer, For Poorer
• Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust

As natural as the end of summer giving way to cooler temperatures and the changing colors of the trees, the vast machinations of the military-energy industrial complex has yet again begun to spin in preparation for the upcoming midterm elections, using the myriad number of tools at its disposal to manipulate the electorate into once more voting against its own interests, into voting for the interests of the elite few. Knowing the absolute ignorance, gullibility and lack of critical thinking of the American masses, those in power are able, once more, in what has become all too familiar throughout the annals of history, to skew the decision, mentality and vote of large segments of the population by simply reaching to the primitive instincts of human nature and manipulating emotions, psychology and the instinct of survival prevalent in every living organism.

To the corporatists and elites steering the nation, this exercise is like taking candy from a baby, for having a citizenry devoid of reason, logic and common sense has its privileges. Unaware that their lives are in firm control by the elite, not knowing the level of manipulation they are subjected to, ignorant to their incessant brainwashing practically from birth, the American masses are like sheep being herded from pasture to slaughter, unable to understand the control over their lives, unwilling to confront the malignancy that festers in their midst, and subservient to the wolves disguised as shepherds that lead them up the ramp of mirages into the corral of complete manipulation.

Indeed, the energy/petroleum industry, already morbidly obese with record breaking revenues, with each conglomerate literally making tens of billions of dollars in profits in multiple fiscal years, all at the expense of the average American consumer, has seemingly made the decision to sacrifice one fiscal quarter, or three months of revenues, choosing to break even instead of raking in billions in profits. This decision, of course, is to help ensure that the vital mid-term elections are decided in the direction most favorable to the industry. It has been the corporatist Republican Party, after all, that has in the last six years enabled the industry to lay claim to unimaginable levels of profit, power and control, both over the citizenry and the course of the nation.

Those at the helm of these oil multinationals have become our overlords, in the process making the government, now more than ever before, their instrument of domination. It was at their behest, their demand, that Afghanistan and Iraq were invaded and occupied, that the nation's institutions have been infiltrated by the industry's executives and lawyers, that the nation's tax laws were rewritten so as to exclude the elite and appease the corporate world, that America's environmental laws and regulations have been gutted, and the reason the American consumer has for six years been fleeced at the gas pump, with ever increasing prices becoming the new normal, so much so that if the price of gas drops fifty cents, as it is today, we think it wonderful, even though today's discounted prices are much higher than those two years ago.

So profitable has having absolute control over all levels of governance been for the industry that the sacrifice of one fiscal quarter of its enormous profits to insure its interests are retained will have no ill-effect on the corporations. To these giants of petroleum, breaking even for three months is the price of doing business, of assuring themselves the unbridled opportunity to once again fleece the American consumer at the pump. After the election, with a little patience, after a small pause in momentum and through a minute restraint on greed, the rape and pillage of the population's bank accounts can continue unabatedly, once again using the full force of the state and the corporate world to methodically subjugate the people. For while the energy/petroleum industry is forced by necessity and realism to think in the long-term, the American people have no such inclination, or desire. Rather, they think exclusively in terms of the here and now, of the selfish ego of wallet and security. The genius of the industry's manipulation, of course, is that the People are as unaware of what is being done to them as a lemming is to the periodic migration that will eventually cost it its life. Nobody seems to worry, nobody seems to care.

The greatest profits, and hence shareholder wealth, in the history of the corporate world have been born through the spilling of blood in the Middle East, for nothing increases the price of a barrel of petroleum more than instability, war, violence and devastation. War, threats, fears and instability in the lands pregnant with the devil's excrement invariably lead to the manipulation of supply and demand, helping to fatten the coffers of the governments possessing oil fields, the corporations elected to extract and bring it to market, as well as the stockholders owning the conglomerate. The name of the game, the geopolitical chess match among powers, the contest played between the elites of powerful nations, and the reason America has its claws wound tight throughout the Middle East and around the Caspian Basin, is control of both the spigots spouting oil and the pipelines deciding which direction black gold flows, as well as possessing the power to manipulate the lever of stability upon which the supply and demand of petroleum is based.

These are the games elites and corporations play, and we are but sacrificial pawns in their next calculated move.

The Chimperor and the Pyramid

Indeed, the perpetual control of the masses by the elite few has been a hallmark of human kind, going back millennia, spanning every known civilization and region of the planet, evolving from the social hierarchy of mammals to the social structures of primates to the eventual creation of social classes and castes of modern man. The inability of humankind to escape a reality and a society based on hierarchical pyramids, with a powerful few at the top, a subjugated and weak majority at the bottom, and a sizeable middle fed the crumbs, bones and scraps of the elite that fatten and make comfortable their existence, their lives engineered to act as the barrier between elite and masses, invariably gives credence to the fact that perhaps humans are genetically, psychologically and by nature predisposed, like all social mammals, to live in societies separated by hierarchy, based on an accepted control of the few at the top of the many at the bottom.

Perhaps our perpetual struggle with classes and castes, with rich, middle class and poor, our incessant inequality and injustice, our fight with greed and indigence, comfort and suffering, with the societal cancer that affects all aspects of human civilization, is as much a part of the human animal as anything else ingrained in our condition. What else explains our historical inability to escape a system where an elite few subjugate and thoroughly dominate the poor masses? What explains the perpetual control by one minute group over one enormous in size, and the inability of the masses to ever overtake the elite? Why do societies, over and over and over again, allow themselves to be governed or ruled by the puppets of the elite or by the elite themselves, knowing full well that the interests of the masses have never and will never be furthered? Why has it been impossible for the many to usurp power from the few for a prolonged and constant timeframe? And why, when it is perfectly understood by the masses that the state and its institutions are designed to further the interests of the elite few, does nothing ever change, and complacency always prevail?

History, it seems, is but an affirmation of our mammalian and primate reality, as the hierarchical pyramid has never had its foundations shattered, nor has its top ever come crumbling down. In fact, the pyramid continues to reach skywards, building itself a much wider base and a smaller apex, with the elite reaching where gods once roamed with the masses being buried deeper and deeper into the ground. Yet it is this same pyramid, long a stalwart companion to the human condition that, the longer time passes and the greater our numbers multiply, threatens to tear all of civilization apart, for it is the inequality and injustice prevalent today, whether that defined as state versus state or social class versus social class, that is engendering ever more levels of anger, resentment and hatred. The consequences of this reality could be disastrous.

Commencing in our mammalian days, with Eden still virgin and pristine, still not contaminated by the plague called humanity, its forests and jungles and grasslands full of life and splendor, the silence of its beauty as enjoyable as today's most inspiring symphony, at a time when we hung from trees and lived in nests, at a time when we were preyed upon and hunted, before we embarked on mass extinction, turning everything we touched to waste, we lived in groups dominated by an alpha male, an animal larger, stronger, more aggressive and endowed with higher levels of testosterone than his competitors, able to offer the best available resources within his territory to available females while possessing the abilities needed to defend his territory from all potential male rivals. It was this male that reigned over his female harem, as well as his male subordinates, allowing no competitor or rival access to the group of mates needed for procreation. With his life he guarded this most cherished female possession, for inside the wombs of his females his genetic immortality and lineage depended.

Thanks to natural selection no rival could match his strength, stamina, aggressiveness and political skill, assuring himself that his seed propagated itself even after his death. It would be his offspring, too, that would retain his genes and traits, the skills and abilities evolution created to survive and thrive in the violent and aggressive world of our primate ancestors. It was only in old age, robbed of energy, testosterone and strength by the sands of time, made weak by years of living, that a newer, stronger rival would dethrone him, thereby creating new genes and new social and political interactions. A new leader could emerge at any time, challenging the alpha for dominance and for copulating rights, his presence coming either from a stranger outside the group or from within, usually from a son or relative thinking himself able to defeat the chimperor in battle.

As we evolved we retained much of our primate ancestors' linear dominance hierarchy, and among the pre-human hominid group, both the males below the leader as well as all females aligned themselves according to this hierarchy, a pyramid evolution created to delineate rank and importance, for in their social interactions an order existed, one based on group dynamics, blood relationships, age, abilities, aggressiveness, political skill and, most likely, intelligence. In this setting, all males were considered dominant over females, though not above the alpha male, the chimperor.

The establishment of a hierarchical pyramid among our early ancestors, perhaps even among those rodent-like mammals that preceded our primate days - a behavior which can readily be seen in today's social mammals - has as purpose the survival and perpetuation of the species, in evolutionary terms becoming a mechanism and an asset designed to minimize the rivalries and the competition that would naturally grow within social species as aggressive and intelligent as ours, creating synergy among peers of the group, even if unequal members, instead of divisive politics and unsettling jealousies, and bringing in unison several pieces of the collective puzzle rather than the disintegration of the group dynamic.

Weak, slow, fragile and rather impotent in nature compared to other species, early man had to rely on the strength that numbers afforded, depending on sizeable groups, and the social interactions between the members, for survival. Our early ancestors, whether primate or hominid, relied on strength in numbers for cooperation, hunting, gathering, resource protection, thinking, problem solving, migrating, subsisting, mutual defense and for warfare with other human groups. For it is the social interactions of man, based on the synergy that grows from brainstorming, our psychological need to live among our kind and our drive to depend on and trust others that is our strongest asset. Along with our intelligence, our social dependency and synergy has allowed us to become the dominant species on the planet.

Without our social traits we would have never been able to leave the forests of East Africa, most likely becoming one more failed species to become extinct. The ability to live in and interact with social, tight-knit groups in our infancy as a species, even if the group was divided by tiers of importance was, therefore, a monumental leap in our evolutionary path, allowing us to thrive and expand to all corners of Earth. For millennia this human socialized behavior has been ingrained into our existence, becoming part of the human condition, a vital reason we are who we are today.

Evolutionary wise, the hierarchy pyramid has served mammals, as well as humans, in minimizing the competition between rivals inside the same group, whether male or females, for the power and control that instinct naturally tries to attain. Hierarchy gave structure to group dynamics, a sense of normalcy for a species all too comfortable with violence and aggressiveness. Evolution worked allowing our ancestors to thrive in group synergy, with divisions based on hierarchy serving to prevent civil war among peers, for it is when two power-hungry, greed-mongering rivals are on equal standing that jealousy, selfishness, conniving, competition, backstabbing and political unscrupulousness are at their most intense levels. Division based on domination and submission has been an evolutionary bedrock for millions of years, serving to maintain the delicate balance that exists within groups.

In the world of our ancestors, the lack of a hierarchical pyramid, meaning equality among all, would probably have resulted in the complete disintegration of the group dynamic and as a consequence, of the individual selves as well. For without the group individual apes, wondering in the natural world, no matter how intelligent, would not survive. Indeed, it was the separation of powers and the division by hierarchy that allowed the first human groups to work so well, just as it does in the mammal world of today, enabling the human species to expand instead of cannibalizing itself through the emotions and psychology we are so familiar with today. Millions of years living with this linear dominance hierarchy, deeply embedded in our psyche and behavior, thus cannot be made to disappear in ten thousand years of civilization, much less overnight. Evolution does not work as fast as a scalpel, nor as fast as anti-depressants.

The division by hierarchy cemented itself even further with the growing intelligence of our species. Language brought forth communication and political partnerships, as well as the growing power of chieftains and tribal leaders. Tribal chiefs, whether through agility, strength, talent, leadership, greater levels of testosterone or by proving themselves on the battlefield, retained power, over time becoming the kings of large and growing tribes and clans, oftentimes passing their reign over to one of their sons, or daughters, until that time when the offspring passed the throne to one of his or her children, thereby assuring family power and control over the tribe for generations.

With the arrival of kings and the growth of the tribe into the village, town and then the city-state came the appointment of underlings, lackeys and the creation of separate state agencies. Bureaucracies were developed, agriculture emerged, different industries were spawned, entire armies were organized and overall, the ego of man combined with the selfishness and love of power and comfort to begin creating class divisions. The various state institutions and enterprises were usually given based on nepotism or favor - much like today's corporate media - with many selections coming from within the ruling family or between its closest acquaintances. These in time were themselves given again and again to members of that bureaucrat's family, thus cementing wealth into the family. This way, nobility, royalty and the upper classes were formed. Meanwhile, those not lucky enough to win favor with the royal family, comprising the majority of the growing city, became compartmentalized servants of the state, working in agriculture, the military or in the various state institutions and enterprises. The rise of the lower classes was thereby fomented. After a few generations the state was the sole domain of the royal family, with all other members of the city-state stratified based on delegated roles or according to relation with the royals, relegated to serving under the direction of and in the interests of those now in power.

With the arrival of fiefdoms, kingdoms, empire and the nation-state the dynamics of the tribe and city-state can be magnified. The levels of class division only continued to grow, the gaps between rich and poor expanded and the masses were, as always, ruled by an alpha male, with the occasional female at the helm, and, as always, based on a linear dominance hierarchical pyramid which assured the dissemination of stratified social structures. The interesting phenomenon during our long and oftentimes brutal history is the fact that a constant pattern of being ruled by tyrants and totalitarian emerges the more we study our history. From Mesopotamia to Persia, from Assyria to Egypt, from Greece to Rome, from Genghis Khan to Hannibal, from the Holy Roman Empire to the Ottoman Empire, from the kingdoms of Africa and India to the dynasties of China, from the empires of the Inka and the Maya and the Aztec, from those of Spain, England and France and Russia and everything in between, humanity has always, with few notable exceptions, been ruled by tyranny.

It seems that humanity is incapable of extricating itself from being ruled by alpha males, with these men oftentimes complete authoritarians, whether as emperors or kings or dictators or prime ministers or presidents. It is almost as if our nature demands the leadership of a Machiavelli type despot to rule over us. It is almost as if we demand to suffer, to never enjoy peace or tranquility, to always be ruled by totalitarian elements. This might be, perhaps, why democracy has only worked in spurts over history and why the world is still saturated by tyrants, whether disguised as warlords, dictators, emirs, kings, prime ministers or presidents, and why, after two centuries of so-called democracy in America, the nation threatens to succumb to the forces of authoritarianism.

If in fact humankind suffers from a preference for authoritarian rule, whether conscious or subconscious, then perhaps the battle against ourselves has truly just begun. If we are our own worst enemy, perhaps it is prudent to know and understand ourselves better before marching on to war. Only by knowing who and what we truly are can we defeat our most potent enemy: ourselves.

Illusions and Delusions of Democracy

With the arrival of comfortable yet brisk autumn air comes another election cycle, yet another voting mirage the elite perpetually exploit to impress upon the electorate the belief that the democracy of their dreams - the kind nurtured since birth from the bosom of brainwashed conditioning - is indeed the democracy of reality. In truth, however, the myth of American democracy is a carefully orchestrated charade that only serves to perpetuate the idea in the minds of citizens that the interests of the people are being satisfied through the election of chosen representatives.

In reality, American democracy, a systematic dance of deception, relies as much on manipulation and conditioning of voters' minds as it does on the financial backing of a candidate. In this day and age, where television is the new worshipped god, the apparatus that will convince the voter which candidate to vote for, lections are about the image of the person running, the psychology of the voter, hiding truth from ever emerging into the conscious of the electorate, and smears directed to decimate an opponent's reputation.

The subtle ways of manipulating the masses into voting for corporate and elite interests and away from those serving the people continues to be perfected by a corporatist cabal expanding its understanding of the American citizenry, as always aided by a populace consumed both by the myopic vision resulting from unfettered ignorance as well as by a comatose indifference spawned by materialistic addiction. This is America's "new normal".

Predictably, the interests that control the nation are maneuvering those instruments that affect the financial condition of the electorate as well as the emotional psychology of the citizenry, hoping the mental manipulation stimulates the voting energy as well as the myopic, short-term attention span of the average American citizen. In what will again be a case of the masses voting for the wealthy so that the wealthy can make themselves richer and more powerful at the expense of the masses, the mid-term election will not amend many of the problems affecting the nation and the populace, instead only succeeding in bringing in to power a new generation of charlatans and miscreants.

Elections in America - outside the state level - and most other nations purporting to espouse democracy are but a game of revolving musical chairs where only the most unscrupulous, cutthroat and backstabbing elite get to retain their seat, using the comforting hymns of seductive promises and the harmonious tunes of idealistic diatribe to hypnotize the citizenry into the voting booth. Like the Pied Piper, politicians play their magical flute, captivating the rat race into a frenzy of deluded belief and gullibility, capturing the emotional fragility, the wishful thinking and psychological needs of the population until that time when the rat race's vote is no longer needed. Once the mighty leaders of the so-called democratic state are securely fastened to the seat of power the rat race can thus be lead down the precipice of indifference, falling into the raging waters of inconsequential invisibility, left to drown and be forgotten, the interests promised them vanishing with the morning fog.

There are, to be sure, a few honorable exceptions of scrupulous men and women whose virtue and principle favoring the interests of humankind cannot be denied, though unfortunately the honest observer of politicians must acknowledge that rotten apples are the rule, not the exception, for politics, especially at the highest levels of national office, are highly contested and coveted positions, a place where a ripe apple is a dead apple. When power, influence, wealth and control are up for grabs, becoming the rewards awaiting the victor, only humans possessing the most vile levels of morality end up in triumph, for to win an election of such sort, with so much on the line, one must be willing to sell his or her soul to the evil's of human nature, becoming the corrupt tornado sweeping over rivals and one's own principles, becoming the worst in the human condition.

It is the lying, cheating, corrupt and immoral individual that sits in power today, those willing to compromise virtue, as well as our interests, for their own selfishness, greed and thirst for power. These humans are, today, our elected officials, individuals that promise us heaven and lead us into purgatory; human beings whose thirst for power is only matched by their need for control; so-called representatives that possess the worst traits and characteristics of the primate called man. Elections have become, thanks to the evils of money and the myriad number of rewards for the winner, brutal, harsh, vicious and depraved, encompassing a cocktail of backstabbing and cutthroat tactics that seeks to win no matter how immoral the strategy may become.

Politicians and candidates must make deals with the criminals, thieves and murderers of corporate and elite domination (the real terrorist evildoers), making promises detrimental to the nation and the populace to those whose dollars fill the coffers of the campaign. Politicians are individuals depraved of honor, pathological liars and masters of spin, human beings wretched enough to sell their own children into bondage if that is what it would take to possess power. In the land of winner take all, in the nation of the individual, only those willing to sacrifice their integrity and morality will in the end be triumphant, sitting a top the halls of governance, smearing and destroying reputations, perpetually lying and spinning in selfish inebriation, selling their souls to greed and power, caring not one ounce for the interests of the people that voted them into power.

This is today the reality inside Washington, where one does not need to have wisdom or intelligence or honor to run for office. All that is needed is wealth, an ability to become a prostitute to power, unscrupulousness, membership in the Establishment and a desire to decimate friend and foe alike on the way to power and control. Running for national office is a game reserved exclusively for the elite and its chosen puppets; the peons, of which the masses are comprised, simply vote them into office under the illusion they have a say in American democracy, thinking the masquerade placed at their doorstep grants them choice and freedom in whom they can vote for, living the delusion that their interests will be well served by the corrupt deviant they decide to cast their vote for.

Unfortunately, choice of candidates has for decades been predetermined by those in power and control, thanks to the manipulations of the corporate media, the distortions of journalists and the mechanisms of money, power and capitalism, leaving only the freedom to choose the lesser of two evils whose two-headed hydra retain one, indivisible body. In America, the choice to be made by the electorate consists of two parties, a duopoly of political control, one neo-fascist and one right of center, almost mirror images of each other, one authoritarian and another anorexic, both the complete dominion of the corporate world. The only choice for a voter to make, realistically, is between this two-headed hydra, a monster reigned in and controlled by the elite, for the elite and of the elite. In fact, one cannot run unless the elite, the Establishment, have given the green light to proceed.

If the Establishment does not wish for one to run, it will make sure the potential candidate stands not a chance at succeeding, using its vast arsenal of weapons at its disposal to crush any upstart that thinks they might have a chance. By simply cutting off donations to the campaign, contributions from corporations and the rich, and by censoring, smearing, manipulating and distorting the campaign through the media, possibly making the candidate disappear completely from the airwaves, possibly negatively altering the electorate's perception of the candidate, the Establishment can destroy any possibility of victory.

In this day and age, when television and media dominate and control the minds of the population, constructing or destroying image, creating and molding thought and opinion, manipulating decision making, it is the candidate the corporation and the Establishment want in office that will inevitably be chosen by the voting public. For the masses are used as the conduits by which the elite get placed in power; we are the grease lining the engines of corruption, greed and immorality; the threads and cottons lining the expandable pockets of the wealthy. We are, in short, but tools of the elite, a means to an end, automatons unknowingly manipulated into whom to vote for, granted permission to push the levers and buttons that will invariably lead to the ascension of our masters and to our ever-diminishing fate.

Almost religiously we head to the voting booth, eager and excited to cast our vote, all the while knowing that our choice is limited and that in the end, the more things change the more things stay the same. We vote knowing that professional politicians are lying and unscrupulous power mongers, yet we vote anyways. We vote knowing that those we vote for are from an elite aristocracy, their interests completely at odds with our own, knowing that only the elite will benefit from our votes, at the detriment of our interests, yet we vote anyway. We are made to believe, almost zealously, in the leadership of our candidate, though we are fully aware that only the corporate world will be made better off through his or her victory. We delude ourselves into believing the illusion of democracy, even when we only have a choice of two candidates whose platform are almost mirror images of each other. We know we are lied to almost pathologically by our chosen candidate, knowing full well that truth is anathema to a politician, yet we believe or wash away these lies, preferring to drink the refreshing Kool-Aid of pretending democracy exists than confronting the reality that it is but an illusion to control and placate the masses.

It is as if the middle and working classes are resigned to the fact, and reality, that the elite have been and always will be in power, possessing dominion over their lives, even though they are few and the masses many. A perverted fatalism seems to always linger above the aura of the world's citizens, willing to concede power to a tiny group that only expands its own powers while letting the majority of human beings rot in misery. From Latin America to Asia to Africa to America and Europe, billions accept as destiny the usurpation of power by a minority of wealthy and powerful human beings, from old wealth elites to those in control of the corporate Leviathan, accepting that their lives will be made worse, not better, by the same interests they help place in power. Is it any surprise that with elites in firm control over most of the world's governments and resources inequality and injustice have grown exponentially, with no end in sight? Is it any wonder why disease, poverty, suffering and perpetual war continue to erode the tenets of humankind? Is it surprising why billions languish in primitiveness, living on two or three dollars a day, while the wealth of the elite continues to expand skywards?

We see governments all over the world falling like dominoes, not chained to communism but to predatory capitalism, with government and its institutions now owned by the corporate world, with the elite of every nation in firm control over the lives of the masses, yet indifferent we have become to our dwindling plight. Throughout every nation on the planet a small minority of the state's elites always seem to sit at the throne of power, decade after decade, year after year, forever holding on to the reigns of governance, forever expanding their wealth and power while decimating the lives of the masses. They have transformed government institutions in their mirror image, designed to expand their own interests, serving to further subjugate the masses. Laws, rules, regulations and policies are written and implemented with the interests of the elite in mind, with those of the majority given little concern. Nationally owned businesses and resources, the patrimony of the state and its people, are, thanks to neo-liberalism, privatized and given, sold at a pittance, to the elite and their cronies who, for a few million dollars, get a return on their investment in the hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars.

The global institutions of the elite, the World Bank, IMF, NAFTA, neo-liberal policies and World Trade Organization, to name a few, are designed to further expand the exclusive interests of the elite few, at the enormous detriment of the masses, in essence creating an evolved mechanism of human enslavement, making the rich richer and poor poorer, enabling the elite unfettered profit and power while chaining the rest of us, billions strong, to the dark caverns of subservience. Through these institutions the elite have retained domination over the masses, expanding their mastery over all of us and proving, yet again, that since the dawn of time humanity has been unable, or unwilling, to alter the corrosive state of man's pyramid of hierarchy. It is that stratified layer of subjugation that incarcerates minds and extinguishes energies; it is an ingrained reality of the human condition, a degenerate manifestation of mammalian social behaviors, where the exploitation of the many by the few has only increased, and the will by the masses to finally exterminate the cancer upon humankind only continues to decrease, as if billions have decided that fatalism and submission to the elite are preferred to a revolution and renaissance by the many.

This is, today, the state of human democracy, a shining beacon of smoke and mirrors that serves only as the mirage needed by the elite of every nation to retain power, in perpetuity, making the masses believe their voice is heard, their vote matters, their interests are being met. Yet reality is altogether different, for the elite care nothing for the peasant class, of which you, me and everyone else is an integral part of. America's elite gladly send the sons and daughters of indigence to war, sent to become the cannon fodder of the corporate world, the centurions for the deluded vision of crazies. Tens of thousands come back maimed, both physically and mentally, while thousands more come back infected with radiation, the depleted uranium they unleashed on Iraqis coming back to fester forever in their bodies, eventually sickening and killing them. Up to 250,000 Iraqis and Afghanis have been killed in an illegal and immoral war based on lies and deceits. Three thousand innocent civilians were murdered on 9/11 by a government reeking of elitist neo-fascists, wishing to start an imperial project in the Middle East, wishing to create a new Pearl Harbor that would unhinge authoritarianism at home and hegemony abroad. Thousands more who were in Lower Manhattan, either assisting or living there, will inevitably die from the toxic cloud of vaporized concrete, glass, asbestos, plastic, metal and human remains they were forced to breathe, all the while assured by their government that the air was clean to breathe when it knew otherwise. Thousands of African Americans died and were displaced from their homes because the elite cared nothing for New Orleans and its citizens, preferring the building of tanks and bombs over the breaking of dams and lives.

The same statistics could be repeated over and over again, throughout the world, clearly showing a pattern of disregard and indifference to the plight of billions whose lives have been made to suffer at the hands of the elite that rule the nations of the planet. The message is clear: the chosen few care nothing for the condemned many. Billions of humans rot away their existence in utter indigence, living in squalor, at the margins of society, in shacks or shantytowns, dying of disease and malnourishment only a few miles away from the posh neighborhoods of the elite, full of mansions and estates, full of stolen money or wealth achieved through subjugation and exploitation, full of gluttony and greed. Here the ministers, secretaries and officials of governance dwell, where CEOs and executives of corporations sleep, where stepford wives shop and little juniors develop. Here the wealth expands into perpetuity, for every mechanism of the state benefits the lives and interests of the elite. They are the government, they control its institutions; they decide the course of the nation and the future of the masses.

Elections come and go, changing dynamics, personalities and faces, yet the misery of the masses remains as has always been, in fact getting worse with each passing decade, the exploitation and subjugation of the masses expanding in linear correlation with inequality and injustice, with the exponential growth in wealth of the elite. There thus arises the truism that this group of human beings does not care or concern itself with the lives of its servants and slaves. They care nothing for us, and the faster we realize this truth the quicker we can try and alter our strategy. We are and have always been the pawns of the elite, from time immemorial used and abused and exploited for our toil and energy. We are their servants, they our masters. They concern themselves for expanding their own power and wealth, at our expense if necessary, at our death if expedient. Making money on Wall Street is much more important to them than saving the life and health of thousands of New Yorkers. Shopping for shoes on Fifth Avenue and golfing in San Diego are of more importance than overseeing the evacuation of New Orleans, of caring for the plight of thousands of African Americans.

Democracy is at odds with the interests of the elite, for to this group democracy is a dangerous invention of human thought, a giant barrier they must jump in order to continue their supremacy. It is a malignant cancer to the elite, for in it they see their power eroding, their grip on control eviscerated. They are aware how perilous their hold on power truly is, for they know their numbers are minute compared to those of the masses. If they had their way, democracy would be non existent, replaced with the authoritarianism the masses seem to prefer.

More and more, democracy, in America as well as the developing world, is but the latest reincarnation of control, the historic enslavement of the masses by the elite that for millennia has marked our scarred presence on Earth. The genius of modern day democracy, however, is in the illusion it engenders that the masses have a voice and a say in their future. They are made to believe in the divinity of "power to the people," in the great expectation that change is only a vote away and that their lives will improve through the election of the chosen leader. It is this charade that shackles the masses into the false belief of comfort and placidity, into the hypnotized stupor that since they voted, all will be well and that their interests will improve. It is this fallacy that maintains the masses quiet, submissive and contained.

Democracy, from its inception, has always been an idealistic principle better implemented in theory than in reality, an institution thoroughly incompatible with human nature, evolution and, most importantly, modern predatory capitalism. Its principles conflict with the behaviors and evolutionary psychology of man, with our social structure and our instincts for pyramids of hierarchy. It seems at odds with the historical preference, subservience, acquiescence and acceptance of the masses, generation after generation, of authoritarianism and tyranny, traversing our long journey through the vast smorgasbord of chieftains, high priests, kings, nobility, emperors, feudal lords, masters, slave holders, dictators, autocrats, fascists, despots, and presidents.

The Revolution that Will Not Come

Democracy is such a charade, such a fiction imprinted in the minds of the masses, that for centuries now, regardless of election or of time and place, the elites of all nations have yet to lose the power and control of their respective states. They have yet to be displaced by the people for an extended period of time. We might think revolutions as possible exceptions to this truism, yet in reality they are momentary glitches in the system, almost becoming self-correcting mechanisms the elite use to improve their grip over the majority of humanity. It is as if the elite grant us a moment lost in time to satisfy deep seated frustrations, an opportunity to shout our concerns and our demands, only to later crush our hopes and dreams once again.

Revolutions, in the context of human history, are indeed small blips on the screen of control, minute corrections from which the elite learn how to better manipulate and control us. Through these manifestations of discontent, the elite sacrifice the short term so that they can better prepare for the long term, knowing full well that the memory of man is only as long as the death of one generation and the birth of another. With adjustments and gained wisdom, the elite become aware that they must offer more crumbs, bones and scraps to the people, in order to control them for the next stage of civilization's evolution, or devolution, until that time the people rise up again in frustration and hunger for more crumbs and scraps picked off the table of the elites' gluttonous appetite.

The elite are also aware, consciously or subconsciously, that the masses rise up on rare occasions and indeed, much less today than in the past. The masses, especially in the lands of the north and those wealthier, semi-developed nations of the south - excluding much of Latin America which has undergone great social change - today live under better conditions than ever before, as hard as it is to think that true, and is the main reason why these populations have become obedient and complacent creatures. The levels of comfort granted them - as a result of the elite loosening the spigot of greed and actually increasing the size of the crumbs and bones given the masses - have enabled the aura of comfort to control the very emotions and frustrations that once served as catalysts for animosity and dissatisfaction. Thanks to the genius of credit cards and debt created by the elite, the masses can fully absorb the hypnotizing powers of consumerism and materialism, purchasing to their hearts content, filing their worthless and unhappy lives with the substitute goods and services that will add meaning and comfort to their lives. Through the consumption of goods the masses feel less inclined to complain about their lot in life, and thus less willing to confront the elite in revolution.

Meanwhile, the accumulation of debt enslaves the masses even further into slavery, making the elites even more powerful masters of the state. With so much comfort, with so much escapism through television and distraction through sports, music and video games, the populace is contained, deluded into thinking their lives are better than they actually are. Revolution cannot arrive through the comfortable existence of the masses, nor through the unbeknownst delusion of the people. And so, while the nation is gutted of its treasury and of its youth, while its education is eviscerated in favor of the instruments of war, while new Pearl Harbors are created and Mesopotamia is destroyed, while the state is becoming the fiefdom of the corporate world, while the government murders 3,000 people in New York and contributes to the death of 3,000 more in Iraq, the mass of the population sits on their couch for hours at a time, picking their collective butt hole, their bodies expanding in obesity while their minds shrink into oblivion as they are fed a diet of bread and circus, watching television and escaping into fantasyland, obsessed with the gossip of celebrity and of so-called perfection, not knowing why they are so unhappy, why they are so overworked, yet unable to pay the bills, why they must pop pill after mind-altering pill, why their children have the intelligence of a sock puppet, why their home is on the verge of foreclosure, why their health has become a liability, asking why they are made to fear of an ambiguous dark-skinned enemy.

Yet revolution will never arrive in America, for human beings seem to possess a genetic predisposition for suffering, becoming over years of existence a race of masochists, thriving in deprivation and submissiveness, seemingly preferring the corruption and incompetence of alpha male autocrats rather than the wisdom and intelligence of honor bound councils. There exists too much comfort, too much ignorance, too much indifference and laziness to care to lift a finger against the instruments of the state, no matter how detrimental they may become. An entire generation of America's youth has become gluttonous and spoiled, following the example of parents, incapable of marching like the students of yesterday, incapable of understanding the complexities of a movement, unable and unwilling to be bothered by the activism necessary to alter the course of their authoritarian future. Millions of individuals have been taught, through years of brainwash education, to only think of themselves, to see the world in black and white, in the today and not the tomorrow. They would much rather listen to their Ipod or play their Playstation than seek that the government change course.

To many, their beautiful minds cannot be bothered by suffering or death or war, nor by the burdensome consequences of seeking change or truth or accountability; many more are too busy pursuing the ultimate charade, the greatest fiction of all, namely, the American Dream, a genius concoction by the elites to manufacture entire generations of exploitable slaves and brainwashed consumers. For entire lifetimes millions chase this unreachable dream, thinking one day they too will join the ranks of the elite, if only they can work hard enough, long enough, selling their souls to the evils of capitalism, becoming the unscrupulous carbon copy of many elites, bleeding, sweating and crying for a dream that ultimately will become a nightmare.

Power of the People has been made extinct in the land of the free and the home of the brave, its strength gutted by years of methodical conditioning of the masses by the elite. Only a minute few take to the streets these days, a virtual hiccup of brave patriots that barely makes noise on the national stage and hardly ever surfaces beyond the echoes of city streets. This group is almost non-existent, with clusters and groups spread throughout the nation, unable to force change, unable to inspire a now lost generation, unable to stop a most ominous course. To the elites, they are mere pests, easily swatted away by a few dozen police officers. The land of the complacent and the cowardly thus continues its inevitably slide into decadence and authoritarianism, without so much as a whisper or a yawn from its apathetic population.

Without care, without concern, indifferent to anything except the next episode of American Idol, 300 million individuals will forever be known as the generation that lost America to the plague of neo-fascists living among us. The "no-sacrifice, no-care, always-me" generation will not know what it has lost until it is too late, until they become nothing more than the army of good Americans. By then, 300 million people will be impotent creatures subservient to authoritarianism and repression, their rights and freedoms taken away, their liberties eroded, their lives further manipulated by the elite. The nation that once had the capability, indeed the momentum, to break free of the eternal chain of bondage called our hierarchy pyramid, that natural evolutionary mechanism that has enslaved us to its unyielding control, has failed miserably in its monumental opportunity, instead becoming yet one more victim to our human nature, our evolutionary psychology, our inner demons, the bastards called the elite.

The pyramid that assures the elite remain at the top, basking in the glow of bright and warm sunshine, while the mass of humanity remains shackled at the bottom, freezing in the nadir of darkness, remains an unbreakable and omnipotent force. It cannot be cracked, it seems, nor can it be shattered. Atop the apex of this design of the human condition is the ever-watchful eye of the powerful, forever looking down at its subjects, for millennia sitting at the throne of control, for millennia unable to be usurped by the large majority of humankind. From time immemorial it sits comfortably at the helm of civilization, expanding the wealth and power of the few, subjugating and oppressing the many, ruining the lives, opportunities and fates of the same masses that after all this time have yet to make a dent in the system.

Perhaps this is as it should always be, as it has always been. Perhaps this is how humanity wants to live, how we are predisposed to become. We have yet to stop its momentum, its sinister reality, becoming accepting of its consequences on our lives, never once thinking what our society would be like under different, under truly human, and not mammalian, behaviors and instincts. Perhaps one day we will awaken, fully awaken, ready to be reborn, ready for an enlightenment away from what we have been and currently are, into a realm of what we are capable of becoming.

Perhaps the day will soon arrive when the masses, the People, will awaken from their slumber, realizing that if the course of history is not changed, human history itself will cease to exist. Too many people are suffering; too many people are dying and living in misery. Levels of inequality and injustice keep increasing; the gap between the rich few and the poor masses continues expanding. This pyramid of subjugation and submission cannot sustain itself, it will collapse from under its own weight, bringing humanity down with it. It is only a matter of time, an inevitability given our growing population, our growing frustrations and anger, our diminishing resources, and our continued disregard for the health of the planet.

The question thus arises, does it fall on its own or with the help of six billion human energies? Can we defeat our comfort and materialism and greed and indifference and declare a new course for human endeavors? Can we rise united, of fall individually? Can we exorcise our evolutionary demons and make extinct our linear dominance hierarchical pyramid, or are we condemned to live divided, stratified and segregated by class and caste? In our answers to these and many other questions lies our destiny, as well as the future of our children. To them we will bequeath either the ruins of a failed society, or the blueprints of a new civilization.

Original
Comment on this Editorial

Madam President, Distinguished Heads of State and Government, Distinguished Heads of Delegation, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen

I praise the Merciful, All-Knowing and Almighty God for blessing me with another opportunity to address this Assembly on behalf of the great nation of Iran and to bring a number of issues to the attention of the international community.

I also praise the Almighty for the increasing vigilance of peoples across the globe, their courageous presence in different international settings, and the brave expression of their views and aspirations regarding global issues.

Today, humanity passionately craves commitment to the Truth, devotion to God, quest for Justice and respect for the dignity of human beings. Rejection of domination and aggression, defense of the oppressed. And longing for peace constitute the legitimate demand of the peoples of the world, particularly the new generations and the spirited youth, who aspire a world free from decadence, aggression and injustice, and replete with love and compassion. The youth have a right to seek justice and the Truth; and they have a right to build their own future on the foundations of love, compassion and tranquility. And, I praise the Almighty for this immense blessing.

Madame President, Excellencies,

What afflicts humanity today is certainly not compatible with human dignity; the Almighty has not created human beings so that they could transgress against others and oppress them.

By causing war and conflict, some are fast expanding their domination, accumulating greater wealth and usurping all the resources, while others endure the resulting poverty, suffering and misery.

Some seek to rule the world relying on weapons and threats, while others live in perpetual insecurity and danger.

Some occupy the homeland of others, thousands of kilometers away from their borders, interfere in their affairs and control their oil and other resources and strategic routes, while others are bombarded daily in their own homes; their children murdered in the streets and alleys of their own country and their homes reduced to rubble.

Such behavior is not worthy of human beings and runs counter to the Truth, to justice and to human dignity. The fundamental question is that under such conditions, where should the oppressed seek justice? Who or what organization defends the rights of the oppressed, and suppresses acts of aggression and oppression? Where is the seat of global justice?

A brief glance at a few examples of the most pressing global issues can further illustrate the problem.

A. The unbridled expansion of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons

Some powers proudly announce their production of second and third generations of nuclear weapons. What do they need these weapons for? Is the development and stockpiling of these deadly weapons designed to promote peace and democracy? Or, are these weapons, in fact, instruments of coercion and threat against other peoples and governments? How long should the people of the world live with the nightmare of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons? What bounds the powers producing and possessing these weapons? How can they be held accountable before the international community? And, are the inhabitants of these countries content with the waste of their wealth and resources for the production of such destructive arsenals? Is it not possible to rely on justice, ethics and wisdom instead of these instruments of death? Aren't wisdom and justice more compatible with peace and tranquility than nuclear, chemical and biological weapons? If wisdom, ethics and justice prevail, then oppression and aggression will be uprooted, threats will wither away and no reason will remain for conflict. This is a solid proposition because most global conflicts emanate from injustice, and from the powerful, not being contented with their own rights, striving to devour the rights of others.

People across the globe embrace justice and are willing to sacrifice for its sake.

Would it not be easier for global powers to ensure their longevity and win hearts and minds through the championing of real promotion of justice, compassion and peace, than through continuing the proliferation of nuclear and chemical weapons and the threat of their use?

The experience of the threat and the use of nuclear weapons are before us. Has it achieved anything for the perpetrators other than exacerbation of tension, hatred and animosity among nations?

B. Occupation of countries and exacerbation of hostilities

Occupation of countries, including Iraq, has continued for the last three years. Not a day goes by without hundreds of people getting killed in cold blood. The occupiers are incapable of establishing security in Iraq. Despite the establishment of the lawful Government and National Assembly of Iraq, there are covert and overt efforts to heighten insecurity, magnify and aggravate differences within Iraqi society, and instigate civil strife.

There is no indication that the occupiers have the necessary political will to eliminate the sources of instability. Numerous terrorists were apprehended by the Government of Iraq, only to be let loose under various pretexts by the occupiers.

It seems that intensification of hostilities and terrorism serves as a pretext for the continued presence of foreign forces in Iraq.

Where can the people of Iraq seek refuge, and from whom should the Government of Iraq seek justice?

Who can ensure Iraq's security? Insecurity in Iraq affects the entire region. Can the Security Council play a role in restoring peace and security in Iraq, while the occupiers are themselves permanent members of the Council? Can the Security Council adopt a fair decision in this regard?

Consider the situation in Palestine:

The roots of the Palestinian problem go back to the Second World War. Under the pretext of protecting some of the survivors of that War, the land of Palestine was occupied through war, aggression and the displacement of millions of its inhabitants; it was placed under the control of some of the War survivors, bringing even larger population groups from elsewhere in the world, who had not been even affected by the Second World War; and a government was established in the territory of others with a population collected from across the world at the expense of driving millions of the rightful inhabitants of the land into a Diaspora and homelessness. This is a great tragedy with hardly a precedent in history. Refugees continue to live in temporary refugee camps, and many have died still hoping to one day return to their land. Can any logic, law or legal reasoning justify this tragedy? Can any member of the United Nations accept such a tragedy occurring in their own homeland?

The pretexts for the creation of the regime occupying Al-Qods Al-Sharif are so weak that its proponents want to silence any voice trying to merely speak about them, as they are concerned that shedding light on the facts would undermine the raison d'être of this regime, as it has. The tragedy does not end with the establishment of a regime in the territory of others. Regrettably, from its inception, that regime has been a constant source of threat and insecurity in the Middle East region, waging war and spilling blood and impeding the progress of regional countries, and has also been used by some powers as an instrument of division, coercion, and pressure on the people of the region. Reference to these historical realities may cause some disquiet among supporters of this regime. But these are sheer facts and not myth. History has unfolded before our eyes.

Worst yet, is the blanket and unwarranted support provided to this regime.

Just watch what is happening in the Palestinian land. People are being bombarded in their own homes and their children murdered in their own streets and alleys. But no authority, not even the Security Council, can afford them any support or protection. Why?

At the same time, a Government is formed democratically and through the free choice of the electorate in a part of the Palestinian territory. But instead of receiving the support of the so-called champions of democracy, its Ministers and Members of Parliament are illegally abducted and incarcerated in full view of the international community.

Which council or international organization stands up to protect this brutally besieged Government? And why can't the Security Council take any steps?

Let me here address Lebanon:

For thirty-three long days, the Lebanese lived under the barrage of fire and bombs and close to 1.5 million of them were displaced; meanwhile some members of the Security Council practically chose a path that provided ample opportunity for the aggressor to achieve its objectives militarily. We witnessed that the Security Council of the United Nations was practically incapacitated by certain powers to even call for a ceasefire. The Security Council sat idly by for so many days, witnessing the cruel scenes of atrocities against the Lebanese while tragedies such as Qana were persistently repeated. Why?

In all these cases, the answer is self-evident. When the power behind the hostilities is itself a permanent member of the Security Council, how then can this Council fulfill its responsibilities?

C. Lack of respect for the rights of members of the international community

Excellencies,

I now wish to refer to some of the grievances of the Iranian people and speak to the injustices against them.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is a member of the IAEA and is committed to the NPT. All our nuclear activities are transparent, peaceful and under the watchful eyes of IAEA inspectors. Why then are there objections to our legally recognized rights? Which governments object to these rights? Governments that themselves benefit from nuclear energy and the fuel cycle. Some of them have abused nuclear technology for non-peaceful ends including the production of nuclear bombs, and some even have a bleak record of using them against humanity.

Which organization or Council should address these injustices? Is the Security Council in a position to address them? Can it stop violations of the inalienable rights of countries? Can it prevent certain powers from impeding scientific progress of other countries?

The abuse of the Security Council, as an instrument of threat and coercion, is indeed a source of grave concern.

Some permanent members of the Security Council, even when they are themselves parties to international disputes, conveniently threaten others with the Security Council and declare, even before any decision by the Council, the condemnation of their opponents by the Council. The question is: what can justify such exploitation of the Security Council, and doesn't it erode the credibility and effectiveness of the Council? Can such behavior contribute to the ability of the Council to maintain security?

Excellencies,

A review of the preceding historical realities would lead to the conclusion that regrettably, justice has become a victim of force and aggression.

- Many global arrangements have become unjust, discriminatory and irresponsible as a result of undue pressure from some of the powerful;

- Threats with nuclear weapons and other instruments of war by some powers have taken the place of respect for the rights of nations and the maintenance and promotion of peace and tranquility;

- For some powers, claims of promotion of human rights and democracy can only last as long as they can be used as instruments of pressure and intimidation against other nations. But when it comes to the interests of the claimants, concepts such as democracy, the right of self-determination of nations, respect for the rights and intelligence of peoples, international law and justice have no place or value. This is blatantly manifested in the way the elected Government of the Palestinian people is treated as well as in the support extended to the Zionist regime. It does not matter if people are murdered in Palestine, turned into refugees, captured, imprisoned or besieged; that must not violate human rights.

- Nations are not equal in exercising their rights recognized by international law. Enjoying these rights is dependent on the whim of certain major powers.

- Apparently the Security Council can only be used to ensure the security and the rights of some big powers. But when the oppressed are decimated under bombardment, the Security Council must remain aloof and not even call for a ceasefire. Is this not a tragedy of historic proportions for the Security Council, which is charged with maintaining the security of countries?

- The prevailing order of contemporary global interactions is such that certain powers equate themselves with the international community, and consider their decisions superseding that of over 180 countries. They consider themselves the masters and rulers of the entire world and other nations as only second class in the world order.

Excellencies,

The question needs to be asked: if the Governments of the United States or the United Kingdom, who are permanent members of the Security Council, commit aggression, occupation and violation of international law, which of the organs of the UN can take them to account? Can a Council in which they are privileged members address their violations? Has this ever happened? In fact, we have repeatedly seen the reverse. If they have differences with a nation or state, they drag it to the Security Council and as claimants, arrogate to themselves simultaneously the roles of prosecutor, judge and executioner. Is this a just order? Can there be a more vivid case of discrimination and more clear evidence of injustice?

Regrettably, the persistence of some hegemonic powers in imposing their exclusionist policies on international decision making mechanisms, including the Security Council, has resulted in a growing mistrust in global public opinion, undermining the credibility and effectiveness of this most universal system of collective security.

Excellencies,

How long can such a situation last in the world? It is evident that the behavior of some powers constitutes the greatest challenge before the Security Council, the entire organization and its affiliated agencies.

The present structure and working methods of the Security Council, which are legacies of the Second World War, are not responsive to the expectations of the current generation and the contemporary needs of humanity.

Today, it is undeniable that the Security Council, most critically and urgently, needs legitimacy and effectiveness. It must be acknowledged that as long as the Council is unable to act on behalf of the entire international community in a transparent, just and democratic manner, it will neither be legitimate nor effective. Furthermore, the direct relation between the abuse of veto and the erosion of the legitimacy and effectiveness of the Council has now been clearly and undeniably established. We cannot, and should not, expect the eradication, or even containment, of injustice, imposition and oppression without reforming the structure and working methods of the Council.

Is it appropriate to expect this generation to submit to the decisions and arrangements established over half a century ago? Doesn't this generation or future generations have the right to decide themselves about the world in which they want to live?

Today, serious reform in the structure and working methods of the Security Council is, more than ever before, necessary. Justice and democracy dictate that the role of the General Assembly, as the highest organ of the United Nations, must be respected. The General Assembly can then, through appropriate mechanisms, take on the task of reforming the Organization and particularly rescue the Security Council from its current state. In the interim, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the African continent should each have a representative as a permanent member of the Security Council, with veto privilege. The resulting balance would hopefully prevent further trampling of the rights of nations.

Madame President,

Excellencies,

It is essential that spirituality and ethics find their rightful place in international relations. Without ethics and spirituality, attained in light of the teachings of Divine prophets, justice, freedom and human rights cannot be guaranteed.

Resolution of contemporary human crises lies in observing ethics and spirituality and the governance of righteous people of high competence and piety.

Should respect for the rights of human beings become the predominant objective, then injustice, ill-temperament, aggression and war will fade away.

Human beings are all God's creatures and are all endowed with dignity and respect.

No one has superiority over others. No individual or states can arrogate to themselves special privileges, nor can they disregard the rights of others and, through influence and pressure, position themselves as the "international community".

Citizens of Asia, Africa, Europe and America are all equal. Over six billion inhabitants of the earth are all equal and worthy of respect.

Justice and protection of human dignity are the two pillars in maintaining sustainable peace, security and tranquility in the world.

It is for this reason that we state:

Sustainable peace and tranquility in the world can only be attained through justice, spirituality, ethics, compassion and respect for human dignity.

All nations and states are entitled to peace, progress and security.

We are all members of the international community and we are all entitled to insist on the creation of a climate of compassion, love and justice.

All members of the United Nations are affected by both the bitter and the sweet events and developments in today's world.

We can adopt firm and logical decisions, thereby improving the prospects of a better life for current and future generations.

Together, we can eradicate the roots of bitter maladies and afflictions, and instead, through the promotion of universal and lasting values such as ethics, spirituality and justice, allow our nations to taste the sweetness of a better future.

Peoples, driven by their divine nature, intrinsically seek Good, Virtue, Perfection and Beauty. Relying on our peoples, we can take giant steps towards reform and pave the road for human perfection. Whether we like it or not, justice, peace and virtue will sooner or later prevail in the world with the will of Almighty God. It is imperative, and also desirable, that we too contribute to the promotion of justice and virtue.

The Almighty and Merciful God, who is the Creator of the Universe, is also its Lord and Ruler. Justice is His command. He commands His creatures to support one another in Good, virtue and piety, and not in decadence and corruption.

He commands His creatures to enjoin one another to righteousness and virtue and not to sin and transgression. All Divine prophets from the Prophet Adam (peace be upon him) to the Prophet Moses (peace be upon him), to the Prophet Jesus Christ (peace be upon him), to the Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him), have all called humanity to monotheism, justice, brotherhood, love and compassion. Is it not possible to build a better world based on monotheism, justice, love and respect for the rights of human beings, and thereby transform animosities into friendship?

I emphatically declare that today's world, more than ever before, longs for just and righteous people with love for all humanity; and above all longs for the perfect righteous human being and the real savior who has been promised to all peoples and who will establish justice, peace and brotherhood on the planet.

O, Almighty God, all men and women are your creatures and you have ordained their guidance and salvation. Bestow upon humanity that thirsts for justice, the perfect human being promised to all by you, and make us among his followers and among those who strive for his return and his cause.
Comment on this Editorial

Sharp elbows. Long queues. Being ignored by the barman when you eventually get there.

All good reasons to put off fighting your way to the bar if you're a University of Westminster student on a night out. But now the students' union thinks it's found a way for drinkers to escape a busy bar and still get a round in - thanks to RFID tables that deliver orders remotely.

With a new term just about to start, the University of Westminster has given its Intermission Bar an overhaul. Students who fancy getting a post-lecture pint in will be treated to six new tables, where pop-up screens let the thirsty academics place an order directly from their seats. You can see them in action here.

Using the screens, students can scroll through the list of beverages and choose what they fancy. Orders are transmitted to the bar using ethernet over powerline, with the drinks brought directly to their tables. The system has prompted the Intermission Bar to employ two sets of staff - one lot to deliver the drinks ordered from the high-tech tables and another set to work the bar as normal.

Even paying for a round has gone upmarket at Westminster. Those using the system can buy their snakebite-and-black using RFID chipped cards, with both a pre-pay and billing option. And, with student debt not getting any smaller, if the cards are lost or stolen, credit can be frozen and retrieved by the out-of-pocket drinker.

The tables are all completely waterproof so while they can't guard against 'who spilt my pint?' scuffles, they can at least keep the electrics safe.

Not only will the new system cut waiting times for drinkers, it will apparently boost profits too - 40 per cent more orders are placed by drinkers at the tables than others in the bar as those using the screens to order become more experimental in their choices and speed up their ordering when not confronted by the prospect of a long wait to be served.

More expensive drinks, such as spirits and cocktails, are ordered more frequently. The system doesn't track who's had a bit too much though - that's left to the lucky bar staff.

Rayhan Rafiq Omar, VP of comms at the students' union, told silicon.com: "For us it's about providing an extra service. Some students are used to bars that are nine people deep but we cater for mature students and they expect a lot more."

As well as sparing beleaguered drinkers from a crowded bar, the new system may even improve their love life. The tables enable students to chat with other tables using an IM-like system. This even comes pre-programmed with a list of cheesy chat-up lines - such as 'that's a nice shirt, it would go well on my floor' and 'I'm not actually this tall, I'm sitting on my wallet' - for the romantically challenged.

For Romeos who need to step it up a level, there's also the option of sending credit to fellow tables - the virtual equivalent of buying someone a drink.

And there's SMS and games for those who don't find being in a bar stimulating enough, while a taxi-booking service is also scheduled to go live shortly.

Omar told silicon.com the student body is also working on tying in some new functionality for the tables including a request system for the student radio station, streaming football matches directly to the tables and a video jukebox.

The system is a collaboration between Compuware and Escapism media, which built the touchscreens (which are called 'escape pods') using Compuware's Optimal J development tool to create the application the pods run on.

The touchscreen tabletops, which can rotate 360 degrees and tilt up to 45 degrees, can also be found in the Ministry of Sound clubs in both Harrogate and London.