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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.
happy trails to you
i'm in VA (Violent Agreement) with you on being quite happily with little more than fine food, a roof and a dodgy Internet connection.
wishing you all the best from prague,
geoff
Re: happy trails to you
no subject
I enjoyed the Tariq Ali article. I've been waiting for some comment from you about how Sergio Vieira de Mello is viewed in ET. I guess his position there was less ambiguous than in Iraq, but of course he wasn't exactly there to help the country build socialism. In Iraq he was both in charge of the 'humanitarian' agencies like UNICEF and UNDP and carrying out Security Council policies aimed at legitimizing an occupation rather than undoing one.
no subject
Another thing we have in common - a liking for Mars. Apparently it is my ruling planet if you believe in that stuff.
Happy holidaying
no subject
OK, now in Sinapore. a href="http://www.the-inncrowd.com/">The Inn Crowd, rocks verily. So does Singapore airlines. The food was actually good and they provided half-decent French wine with the meal. Not too sloppy for economy class!
More smart-alec than smart
Guilty of the same exaggeration that he is (overstating) about others. And clearly subject to Albert Langer’s critique – since when is the left in favour of fascism?
Iraq is ‘worse’ in sense of it doesn’t have order imposed by terror. It has terrorism, but not terror. It also has something it didn’t have before – the chance of a decent dispensation evolving. Also, post-dictatorship states are often a law-and-order shambles to some extent.
The term ‘recolonisation’ is hardly appropriate. Nor has it been established that Dubya, Blair or Howard lied. For Iraq to either possess WMDs or have program(s) to develop them were both breaches of the 1991 truce and Security Council resolutions. The programs to develop them have firmly been established. The apparent exaggeration of Iraq’s actual WMD holdings was a mistake made by all the intelligence services, French and Russian included. People also conveniently forget that Saddam gave every impression of having something to hide (which he did, the development programs).
If his depiction of 'establishment' unhappiness is correct, I suspect it is more a clash between Gladestonian confidence (an Iraqi democracy can be built) and Salisburian diffidence (too risky, don't bother).
Moreover, low-level guerrilla wars are almost always lost by the guerrillas. This conflict is a mix of predictable resistance by Sunni elements to the looming end of their domination of Iraq and terror by al-Qaeda, both of whom are desperate to stop any danger of a democratic Iraq.
Re: More smart-alec than smart
Re: More smart-alec than smart
Re: More smart-alec than smart