You have to love George Bush. He has an innate crudeness that is almost charmingly primitive. But not quite. The latest news is, he apparently wants to know WHY no WMDs were found in Iraq.
Well, Dubya, old buddy, that sure is a toughie. My only suggestion is: take a wild guess. It might just save you an extra few million bucks.
Read More »Dubya
I’ve been tempted to write a lengthy ramble about the so-called Hutton Report, it being one of the few things sparking my attention in the news… but, nah, I’ll be brief (I think).
What does this report mean, anyway? Are people getting confused about the Lord in Lord Hutton? It doesn’t mean Lord as in God, you know. In my opinion, for a report of this kind to carry any kind of weight, it needs to be the result of analysis by panel (in the same way that a trial verdict is reached by jury). Even that hardly ensures true objectivity—whatever that is—but it’s probably the best we can hope for.
One man’s allegedly objective analysis simply isn’t good enough, particularly when he admits the ‘scope’ of the report is so limited as to rob the process of any genuine context. Aw, who needs a context anyway? Hilarious.
Read More »Report Schmeport
I think I consider myself an unsuccessful person in most respects. I’m always wary of buying into someone else’s subjective value system; our government would, no doubt, love to ram their values down all our throats forcibly if that were possible. I’m trying to define success on a personal level that means something to me.
Trouble is, even on my own terms, I can’t find much from my current or past life that would qualify as successful (or even especially rewarding, which is probably the best kind of success of all). I’ve wasted half my life treading water. I think my recent birthday still troubles me on that level.
I don’t think I relate to other people very well. Most people are very facile at pretending they’re okay (most of the time), really well adjusted and comfortable, etc. I’m not sure it’s possible for any of us to be genuinely comfortable in this intense, madhouse environment we’re living in. We’ve abandoned almost everything that constituted our default existence, and such profound artificiality can’t possibly hold together coherently. Well, I mean, it doesn’t! I think society is more culturally divided than it ever was, even though more people are straining to pretend otherwise. (Usually, alas, to flatter their own egos rather than to seek genuine change.)
Read More »Success is…?
So, Europe have sent a probe to Mars. Bravo. We might finally discover what (if any) kind of life there is on the Red Planet.
I have mixed feelings. There’s no doubt that the possibilities are fascinating. But my feelings change when I consider the astronomical amount of money that must have been put into this project (or any project of this ilk). What could be done with that money? Research into cancer or AIDS, relief for those suffering poverty or famine… hell, it could even help to rebuild some of the tattered remnants of Iraq and ensure those who were mutilated by the skirmish receive the best of care.
Read More »It’s the Freakiest Show
New blog entries from Salam Pax, the man in Baghdad. As he currently has no Internet access, they have been posted by someone else on… Read More »Straight from Baghdad
Link for amusement value only: We Love the Iraqi Information Minister. Well, he was only thing about the whole mess that managed to raise a… Read More »Misinformation
It was great news to hear that Ali Ismail Abbas has been flown to Kuwait and is receiving proper medical care. On a more cynical note, how good it was of Mr. Blair to condescend to ‘comment’ on the situation. But I’m not going to have another war rant…
Monday, I went to buy the video of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. A bit of extra money came our way, and since this counts as extravagance in our current impoverished state, what the hell! We watched it Monday night.
I thought the first HP movie was just okay. This one was a huge improvement, although as each of the books is longer than the last, there was much more condensing. Arguably, the plots also get better, so perhaps a stronger plot suffers less from omission. It was fast-moving and slick. The younger cast were much more polished. Robbie Coltrane was his usual awesome self. The FX were much better, in particular Dobby the house elf… I thought they might mess him up, but he was a wonderful CGI creation, furnished with a wide range of extremely realistic and endearing mannerisms.
Or, is the war over? (Same link as yesterday—current Middle East news from BBC—so if you’re reading this in 2004, it will likely be irrelevant!) Okay, okay, enough about the damned war!
Having mentioned the new David Suchet Poirot episodes the other day, I thought I might as well give a link to the story here. The first (of at least three) will be Death on the Nile. I can’t wait!
Read More »Death on the Nile
The war seems to be almost over. I’m quite shocked at the swiftness with which Baghdad has seemingly been (largely) secured after the significant resistance encountered in smaller areas (i.e. Basra). But I’m thankful for this. It will hopefully save a lot of lives, and that is always the most important factor.
Read More »The End is Near?
Today’s war news: the coalition aces have bombed Mansour, because Saddam ‘might’ have been there, and blitzed the Palestine Hotel where numerous journalists were based. We don’t know if they got Saddam or not, of course, but we do know they blasted another bunch of civilians (you know, the ones they’re ‘liberating’) into the next world based on their so-called ‘intelligence.’
I’ve said it before: I just want it to end…
Read More »Bombing for Freedom
