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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
Nor has it been established that Dubya, Blair or Howard lied.
The onus of proof is on them to prove that the didn't. They made the assertion. They must prove the proposition. Where's the weapons? Where's the programs? How about that 45 minutes? Or are we going to reduce ourselves to the ultimate sophism:
"I think the burden is on those people who think he didn't have weapons of mass destruction to tell the world where they are."
Ari Fleischer, on July 9.
The apparent exaggeration of Iraq’s actual WMD holdings was a mistake made by all the intelligence services, French and Russian included.
No. You're going to have to trust me on this, but no. The intelligence services told the respective governments the truth. The respective governments ignored or in the modern parlance "sexed up" the claims. This was not a case of intelligence failure, because the intelligence services told the truth as they had researched it (and they were correct). This is a case of political failure.
And the war, despite Bush's claims to the contrary, continues. And people will continue to die. For oil.