NotesI knew that one day we might have to watch as capitalism and greed and bigotry led to a world where powerful men, deserving or not, would burn it all down. What I didnāt expect, and donāt think I could have foreseen, is how incredibly cringe it would all be. I have been prepared for evil, for greed, for cruelty, for injustice ā but I did not anticipate that the people in power would also be such huge losers.Unfurl
NotesSo last week we bought them their own horse head. And yesterday mconley delivered it to their office. They invited him in. They brought the box over to the window where we could see. They gathered around their window and we gathered around ours. And when they opened it and realised what it was they actually jumped up and down, and applauded, and mouthed āthank youā through the window at us.FeedEmbedUnfurl
Notes"Of course I know that even to mention Obama's support around the world is to hurt him. Incredibly, that large Berlin crowd damaged Obama at home, branding him the "candidate of Europe" and making him seem less of a patriotic American. But what does that say about today's America, that the world's esteem is now unwanted? If Americans reject Obama, they will be sending the clearest possible message to the rest of us - and, make no mistake, we shall hear it. "Unfurl
Notes"By criticizing itself, apologizing and offering concessions ā all things the Islamic world has yet to do ā the West reaffirms that Islam has a privileged status in the world. "Unfurl
Notes"Kim Jong-il is to have his access to iPods and other desirable gadgets cut off as part of US efforts to target sanctions directly at the North Korean leader and his power base."Unfurl
Notes"We do not know what outcome we will face in Iraq. We do know that four years after 9/11, our whole foreign policy seems destined to rise or fall on the outcome of a war only marginally related to the source of what befell us on that day. There was nothinUnfurl
Notes"There is a massive failure of leadership in the U.S. and U.K. When our people die, what we get from blowhards Bush and Blair is nothing but therapy..."Unfurl
Notes"A leading human rights group has criticised the US over the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal and the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay"Unfurl
Notes"History is not going to be kind to Bush II in any case. If we accord these guys a Round 2, I think historyās not going to be kind to us, either."Unfurl
Notes"How do we nurture the healing side of religion over the killing side? How do we protect the soul of democracy against bad theology in service of an imperial state?"Unfurl
I knew one day Iād have to watch powerful men burn the world down ā I just didnāt expect them to be such losers | Rebecca Shaw | The Guardian
Neil Fraser: News: CS in VN
Horseplay Ā« meandering wildly
North Korea bans citizens working in Libya from returning home (Julian Ryall/Telegraph)