Thank God It's Not Friday For Much LongerI don't actually mind the early start; it's something you get used to and Indonesians are supposedly
the earliest risers in the world. Work was fine, especially as I generally get home about 3.30.
But not today. A massive thunderstorm, the sort which the Jakarta Post report on their front page the next day, created a moat around the workplace. We eventually waded out and found a cruising taxi which dropped us off at various points. It was still raining, but as I suspected that the loop-de-loop route to access my street which goes under the toll road would be flooded to a depth of half a metre, I decided to use the footbridge and walk home through the
kampung, in spite of the drizzle.
I found my way blocked by a couple of sub-machine toting
Brimob (the army's mobile brigade) blocking my way. Below, the toll road south was empty of traffic and the four parallel lanes were also devoid of traffic. Why? Because Josef Kalla was on his way to Halim airport and vice presidents aren't allowed to sit in traffic jams with the citizens who he is supposed to serve.
Five minutes later I reached my road only to find that I was expected to wade through vast puddles because of the
ojeks (motorcycle taxis) were parked on the
jalan kaki (footpath). I was furious and made them move so I could pass by. Once I had, one presumptious oik muttered something about
orang bule ~ a racist term ~ so I went back and gave him some aggressive Anglo-Saxon.
He won't be rude to me again. And I've now lost my voice.
It sure didn't take long for the patience and calm engendered by the fasting month to fade.
Others too seem to have returned to type.
For example, have a read of
Bart's Expat Newsletter. He has 'published' a letter from Ross McKay which is both historically inaccurate and histrionic.
Recently there has been a major drive, spearheaded by the Jakarta Post, towards historical revisonism, regarding the 'events' of 1965, when the P.K.I. Communists tortured and murdered many of Indonesia's top generals, and the little daughter of another famous soldier, General Nasution. Demands that survivng Red traitors be rehabilitated surface often.
Sadly, the J.P. version appears to have no rational foundation, but is based on open sympathy with Communist dictatorial systems, as exemplified in a recent editorial eulogising Vietnam. Their gushing praise for the heinous tyranny of Ho Chi Minh was expressed in tandem with apparently non-ironic quotes from his hypocritical use of fancy 'rights' language to mask a regime as brutally oppressive as Mao or Hitler.
Well, that seems to be telling it like it wasn't. After all, the involvement of the CIA in the events of 1965 ~ the US embassy supplied the names of so-called communists and America used events here as a war game before they intervened in the ultimately lost war in Vietnam (Cambodia and Laos) ~ are well-documented.
Why did you publish this crap, Bart? Did Ross pay you in order to publicise his next novel,
Red Jakarta?
Something else that's simmered over the day is that
Miss Bryt Pookie is in serious breach of 'netiquette'.
No, it's not her self indulgent writing ~ all bloggers are self publicists, check stats etc. ~ although her post today does indicate that she's not yet in touch with her inner self.
I. Hate. This. Office. So. Much.The hypocrisy. The hypocrites. The backtalk. The backstabbing. The backstabbers. The stupid rules. The narrow minded, paranoid people. The we -have -been -here -long -before -you -were -born -and -that -makes -us -smarter/better/holier -than -thou act and look they've been showing me. The boss who's not sure what he wants and keeps changing his mind.What gets my goat is that she has a section of links headed
A Complete Waste of Time(That's you, Isman. Good to have you in my blogroll.)Capricorn Today(Her horoscope)Go Fug Yourself"Fantastically bitchy... great fun, unless you are famous." - The Guardian(My sentiments today.)Saddam's Cyber Palace(This site shows the cost of the Iraq War ever-increasing. And why not?)J.K. Rowling Official Site(I prefer J.R.R.Tolkien, but at least she's got teenagers reading.)Weird Asia Overview(In depth reviews of really crap Indonesian movies ~ worth a browse.)And ...
Jakartass It looks as if I'm in good company (and thanks for the extra hits).
Hey kid, we've all got sites we do and don't like, but it's
infra dig to have a go at those you haven't got any beef with. You don't like backstabbers?
Well, neither do I, so please cut it out.
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