Norman Mailer gave a superb speech at the Commonwealth Club on February 20th. I caught the last third of it replayed on the radio last night, and found a written version today.
With many a perfectly turned phrase, Mailer summarizes well the psyche and politics that brought us to the brink of war.
He argues that [...]
Screw liberation. It’s imperialism.
Imperialism is “the policy, practice, or advocacy of extending the power and dominion of a nation especially by direct territorial acquisitions or by gaining indirect control over the political or economic life of other areas.” (m-w)
From a Reuters story on Colin Powell’s testimony on Wednesday, March 26th, before a subcommittee of [...]
For a friend, the best sources of information:
World Health Organization Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) page
Centers for Disease Control Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) page
From Salon: Bush administration officials and their hawkish supporters now say they never promised an easy war — but the record shows otherwise.
Via Robert Berger.
Robert Fisk, in Baghdad during the attacks:
… could one attack a more appropriate regime? But that is not quite the point. For the message of last night’s raid was the same as that of Thursday’s raid, that of all the raids in the hours to come: that the United States must be obeyed. That the [...]
Everybody was a Blogger at last week’s Blogger/Google party! Noah Glass of audblog posted a good snap of Noah, Pete and Myles Weissleder, of Meetup.
Rachel Corrie sent this message home to Olympia, Washington five weeks before she was killed by an Israel Defense Forces bulldozer. Rachel, 23, was blocking the destruction of a home in Palestine when she fell and was crushed by the bulldozer. Her death was apparently not intentional.
I’m not sure how I feel about [...]
The lack of diplomatic success the Administration has had in selling this war brings a whole new dimension to the questions, “Why war? Why now?”
The Summit of Isolation
New York Times editorial, March 16, 2003
Three men meeting on an Atlantic island seems an apt symbol for the failure of the Bush administration to draw the [...]
On a Small Bridge in Iraq is an evocative travelogue by Japanese writer Natsuki Ikezawa, recounting what he experienced during his travels in Iraq in late 2002. 39 pages with photos by Seiichi Motohashi, English translation by Alfred Birnbaum. Free e-book in PDF format. Highly recommended.
english: http://www.cafeimpala.com/downloadbookE.html
française: http://www.impala.jp/iraq/
From the Times UK:
A DECADE ago the first Bush Administration assembled the most powerful military coalition in history, with 34 nations prepared to contribute soldiers, funds and political muscle in the war to oust President Saddam Hussein from Kuwait.
Yesterday that formidable alliance seemed a distant memory as America, after a series of spectacular bungles, struggled [...]