from the luscious limp edition:
Reading Paul McGeough’s most recent, typically incisive report from Iraq in the Fairfax papers, my eyes rested upon the following expression: “... the rising impotence of ...”. Now, it could be just me, but is it possible that those two words don't fit together terribly well?
apostrophes are my life:
Nearby, in the same paper, was a job advertisement, from the Victorian state government. There, in big and bold lettering, were these words -
OFFICIAL PRISON VISITOR’S
No. That’s all I want to say about this. Just, no.
joke of the week:
What if they held a democratic election in the Middle East and it was won by a recognised terrorist organisation? Yet again, Mr Bush would do well to remember that old phrase about not wishing too hard for what you want because you might just get it.
(And, wrestling with ideas beyond my abilities: if Iraq does happen to tumble into civil war [see Paul McGeough, supra] and if Hamas is able to establish a proper Palestinian government, the leaders of Iran would seem to be extremely well positioned. They have a good working relationship with Hamas, and they would appear to be bankrolling most of the dominant Shiite parties in Iraq. The Americans, unless I’ve been looking the wrong way, have been all but silent on the current “sectarian” violence in Iraq. My guess is they know that bringing the entire country to order is well beyond them. Might we wake up in the southern hemisphere one morning to reports of a helicopter evacuation of the Green Zone? The situation is, on one level, a win-win situation for those schadenfreudians among us. But, more seriously, and tragically, the word “mess” hardly suffices. Because what would happen if America pulled out? (Shhhh. Don't mention the price of oil.))
meanwhile, in “old” europe:
“Those Europeans”, Obelix is saying, while furiously tapping the side of his head cartoon-woodpecker style, “are crazy.” Exactly what point is Austria, itself note entirely squeaky clean in this area, seeking to prove by not only charging, but convicting, that nasty piece of work David Irving of something that is being reported here as “denying the Holocaust”? Thoughtcrime, if you ask me, is an idea better left to George Orwell and other worthwhile allegorists, as opposed to being the official policy of an enlightened democracy. Mr Irving, of course, well knows that any publicity is good publicity, and his photograph (wherein he is conveniently holding a copy of one of his books, OF COURSE) is now everywhere. And becoming a martyr to his misguided cause is not a bad career move. Surely it is better to marginalise him, and people like him, by starving them of the oxygen of publicity that they need in order to survive. I will say no more on this subject. But, citizens of the free world, beware: laws are being passed, maybe even in your country, whereby you might find yourself in jail on account of what you write, or whom you consort with. I'm sure that, if technology permitted, you might even need to be careful what you think. (End of sermon.)
and now, a word from our sponsors:
You want zucchinis? We’ve got zucchinis. In fact, we’ve got zucchinis up the wazoo. I don’t actually know what that means. Most are small and perfectly formed, but a couple were lost in the undergrowth for just long enough that they are now suitable for whacking baseballs out of the park. (Although you would only do it once.) It seems there are limits to what one can do with zucchinis. We are not far from that limit.
the elephant is still in the living room:
And, finally, the weather. Every day the planet is getting just that little bit hotter, and the only person who can realistically do anything about it is doing nothing about it. Or, nothing helpful, anyway.
