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The tour begins....
News
Last night I went to the Dili agricultural show. It was really quite impressive for a country that has next to nothing, for the palm and bamboo huts to built and prize animals, various foodtuffs, arts and craftwork to be put on display from districts all over the country. Just getting to Dili is hard enough for some of these people. There were a couple of thousand people present and a fine theatre performance put on by my friends in "Bibi Bulak" (the Crazy Goats).
In half an hours' time, I'm departing East Timor for Bali. Of course, I'm taking the laptop along so I can finish off a few bits and pieces for work and my thesis. But apart from that I've packed my worldly goods and possessions. I didn't come with much and I'm not leaving with much either. The only substantial addition has been a Balinese wood carved chess set which unfolds from a briefcase (complete with handle) into a beautiful chess table. I can take this thing around the world. I've discovered (and I thank a certain Wendy for this) that I actually want for very little in this world. The past year has proven that I can live quite happily with little more than fine food, a roof and a dodgy Internet connection.
On a less fortunate note, I just received a personal invitation to the Australian Embassy for a function for an Australian federal parliamentary delegation. Heading the delegation is Bill Hefferman. Damn shame that I'll be away for said function. I would have donned a nice frock and annoyed the hell out him all night given the opportunity.
Frivolity
Being Paul Newman I can handle. Biting tyggerjai is something I must apologise for.
Seriousness
Tariq Ali, one the more sensible Troskyites around, states all the commonsense things that the spindoctors avoid.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/08/25/1061663732767.html
A particularly good quote:
"And one day when the children of dead Iraqis and Americans ask why their parents died? The answer will come:
because the politicians lied.
And of course, for us astronomy buffs, Mars is nearby. One of my favourite planets, I must admit.
Last night I went to the Dili agricultural show. It was really quite impressive for a country that has next to nothing, for the palm and bamboo huts to built and prize animals, various foodtuffs, arts and craftwork to be put on display from districts all over the country. Just getting to Dili is hard enough for some of these people. There were a couple of thousand people present and a fine theatre performance put on by my friends in "Bibi Bulak" (the Crazy Goats).
In half an hours' time, I'm departing East Timor for Bali. Of course, I'm taking the laptop along so I can finish off a few bits and pieces for work and my thesis. But apart from that I've packed my worldly goods and possessions. I didn't come with much and I'm not leaving with much either. The only substantial addition has been a Balinese wood carved chess set which unfolds from a briefcase (complete with handle) into a beautiful chess table. I can take this thing around the world. I've discovered (and I thank a certain Wendy for this) that I actually want for very little in this world. The past year has proven that I can live quite happily with little more than fine food, a roof and a dodgy Internet connection.
On a less fortunate note, I just received a personal invitation to the Australian Embassy for a function for an Australian federal parliamentary delegation. Heading the delegation is Bill Hefferman. Damn shame that I'll be away for said function. I would have donned a nice frock and annoyed the hell out him all night given the opportunity.
Frivolity
Being Paul Newman I can handle. Biting tyggerjai is something I must apologise for.
| My LiveJournal Sitcom |
|---|
| tcpip! (WB, 5:00): tcpip (Paul Newman) bites tyggerjai (Glenn Close). The next day, lefae (Breckin Meyer)'s new friend alienates v3nu5 (Laura Linney). In the next town over, revoltingjam (Gates McFadden) gets a job as secretary to drzero (Arnold Schwarzenegger). Upstairs, pr0zak (Jaime Pressly) and severina_242 (Cuba Gooding Jr.) don't believe in chess. Afterwards, pinque (Mia Sara) and 17catherines (Vivian Hsu) find a lost parakeet at a high school. (Series finale.) |
| What's Your LiveJournal Sitcom? (by rfreebern) |
Seriousness
Tariq Ali, one the more sensible Troskyites around, states all the commonsense things that the spindoctors avoid.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/08/25/1061663732767.html
A particularly good quote:
"And one day when the children of dead Iraqis and Americans ask why their parents died? The answer will come:
because the politicians lied.
And of course, for us astronomy buffs, Mars is nearby. One of my favourite planets, I must admit.
Re: More smart-alec than smart
3. It extolled Saddam Hussein's virtues.
See for example "The Gulf War", The Weekend Australian, 31 March 1984, page 8.
The article claims that Saddam Hussein is "a brilliant orator; one diplomat in Baghdad says he speaks Arabic the way de Gaulle spoke French. He also has the politician's touch: Iraqi television endlessly depicts him cuddling babies and making jokes."
The Australian spoke of Saddam's "conspicuous concern for the Shi'ite community by ordering the renovation of shrines in the holy Shi'ite cities of Karbala and Najaf, at a cost of more than $200 million".
In a long hymn of praise to the Ba'ath Party, The Australian noted that it "courted popularity since it came to power in 1968 by enforcing land-reform laws and using Iraq's huge oil wealth (before the war it was the second biggest Arab oil producer) to improve living standards."
"Villages have been electrified, schools built, an adult literacy campaign launched and a free health service established. Unemployment has been abolished by official decree and by creating unproductive jobs. There is little visible poverty."
"Iraqi women are better treated than in many other Arab countries. In the towns, women wander around freely in revealing Western clothes. More women are going to university and getting responsible jobs."
"As in Europe and the United States during World War II, the departure of men for the battlefront has opened up jobs for women."
"For the first two years of the war, the Government continued to pour money into development projects and subsidies on consumer goods".
Other positives that The Australian saw in Saddam Hussein were that "[c]onsumer goods remain[ed] a priority: the Government does not want an uncomfortable, discontented population. It imports large amounts of luxury foods; frozen chickens from Brazil, for instance. The United States has provided $400 million worth of grain which is not yet paid for."
"Food distribution within Iraq is being liberalised: peasants are now allowed to sell their produce privately, rather than through the state distribution system. Last year cucumbers were the only vegetable regularly available in Baghdad. This year, almost all locally grown foods are available."
"The Government makes sure the army is kept happy. Soldiers are getting fat on generous rations. They are well paid, and their families get cheap housing. Military heroes get material rewards like free cars and houses. War widows are given handsome pensions."
4. When The Australian discussed chemical weapons, it did not single out Iraq.
See for example "Bans and revulsion have not stopped use of chemical weapons", The Australian, 18 April 1984.
The article reported that Egypt reportedly used a Soviet-supplied nerve agent in Yemen between 1963 and 1967. There are continuing reports, which the Soviets have denied and some Western scientists questioned, that the Soviets are using mycotoxins in South-East and South-West Asia".
The article did not even mention Iraq's use of chemical weapons. The article did not even mention the word Iraq in the story.
5. It editorialised in the most general terms about the need for an "investigatory body consisting of scientists from the more genuinely non-aligned and neutral nations". Nowadays, of course, it wants nothing to do with "scientists from the more genuinely non-aligned and neutral nations".
See for example, "World must act on chemical warfare"; The Australian, Monday 12 March 1984. An excerpt: "But if there were an international tribunal or investigatory body consisting of scientists from the more genuinely non-aligned and neutral nations, there would be the possibility of confirming or refuting any allegations concerning the use of poisonous gas and other obnoxious methods of warfare. This in itself may not stop the most callous and reckless of governments but it would act as some restraint against a proliferation of chemical warfare."