Wednesday, November 09, 2005
First, the Good News - Hubris Vanquished
The Bush touch loses its power - Bye bye Kilgore
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The Bad News - Yes, there is some
This is what Harold Pinter, the eminent British author, winner of the Nobel Prize for literature in 2005, said when he accepted the Wilfred Owen Award: "We have brought torture, cluster bombs, depleted uranium, innumerable acts of random murder, misery and degradation to the Iraqi people and call it `bringing freedom and democracy to Middle East'. What we have unleashed is a ferocious and unremitting resistance, mayhem and chaos."
And the Joke
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In Virginia, the appearance by the president for a last minute rally on behalf of the Republican gubernatorial candidate fell with a thud. "Democrat Kaine Wins In Virginia" reads the Washington Post report. A sign of things to come ? The voters, in their wisdom, made their decision based on local issues. The president's arrival at Richmond on Airforce One meant nothing to Virginians. In California, the voters trounced Governor Schwarzenegger's costly mid-term ballot measures. All four propositions put forward by him were defeated. The voters saw through him and punished him for deviating from his campaign promises. His chances of being re-elected in 2006 have become doubtful. Not quite "Happy days are here again" but it is a good day for many of us. One thing for sure, the president is not in high spirits today.
Another hopeful sign for the future is voters' disgust nationwide with negative campaign ads. Both parties took part in doing their share of flinging mud. Didn't do them much good.
Another hopeful sign for the future is voters' disgust nationwide with negative campaign ads. Both parties took part in doing their share of flinging mud. Didn't do them much good.
The Bad News - Yes, there is some
How To Make Enemies. The BBC reported that Italian State TV, RAI, broadcasted a documentary "accusing the US military of using white phosphorus bombs against civilians in the Iraqi city of Falluja."
It is hard to believe that such actions and the inevitable deaths and injuries of Iraqi civilians can be shrugged off as "collateral damage". Meanwhile, the death toll for our soldiers in Iraq has reached 28 in the first seven days of November.The official figure for the wounded is 15477.
Latest number for dead Iraqi civilians: Minimum 26,931 Maximum 30,318.
Latest number for dead Iraqi civilians: Minimum 26,931 Maximum 30,318.
This is what Harold Pinter, the eminent British author, winner of the Nobel Prize for literature in 2005, said when he accepted the Wilfred Owen Award: "We have brought torture, cluster bombs, depleted uranium, innumerable acts of random murder, misery and degradation to the Iraqi people and call it `bringing freedom and democracy to Middle East'. What we have unleashed is a ferocious and unremitting resistance, mayhem and chaos."
And the Joke
Fujumori is refused bail in Chile. Whatever it was--bad intelligence from his aides, idiocy, or victim of a con job--Alberto Fujimori's decision to return to Latin America must have caused a lot of people to shake their heads. Did he really expect a red carpet on his arrival !
