Archive for December, 2003
Soham Lessons
Julie Bindel raises an important question in the Guardian in relation to the conviction of Ian Huntley for the murder of the two Cambridgeshire schoolgirls.
Why was he allowed to take a job at a school when so many allegations of sexual assault and rape had already been made against him by many and various [...]
Posted: December 19th, 2003 under Crime.
Making a Difference
David Aaronovitch has been named Columnist of the Year in the What The Paper’s Say awards.
Aaronovitch has been one of a handful of left columnists who took a pro-liberation position on the Iraq war and has been one of the most-linked to journalists on this blog.
Along with Nick Cohen at the Observer and Johann Hari [...]
Posted: December 19th, 2003 under Media.
Mark Steyn on the Bike-Path Left
Unlike most would-be political humorists, Mark Steyn can actually be funny sometimes. (I especially liked the column he wrote after the video was broadcast of Osama bin Laden boasting about the September 11 attacks.)
But, as many of us have said of Michael Moore, even someone trying to entertain as well as convince has a responsibility [...]
Posted: December 18th, 2003 under Stateside.
We’d rather see Paris
A mere 63 hours after the capture of Saddam Hussein was revealed, more Americans watched Paris Hilton’s rich-girl-on-the-farm “reality” show than watched Diane Sawyer’s exclusive interview with President Bush. (Don’t blame me- I didn’t watch either one.)
As Harry Shearer often says since 9/11, “We are so back to normal.”
Is it possible that Americans find a [...]
Posted: December 18th, 2003 under Media.
Faking It
Newsweek throws cold water on the Sunday Telegraph’s story which claimed a link between Mohammed Atta and Abu Nidal, a long-time resident of Iraq and well-known terrorist. According to FBI work the document in the hands of the Telegraph purporting to show Atta was in Iraq before 9/11
is probably a fabrication that is contradicted by [...]
Posted: December 18th, 2003 under War etc.
Brainiology
Here’s a couple of examples demonstrating that success and plaudits in one field are not a sufficient basis to be taken at all seriously in another unrelated field.
Step forward Richard Dawkins who seems to know all about strings of DNA but rather less about timing and humour in politics.
His timing can be gauged by his [...]
Posted: December 18th, 2003 under Misc.
Anti-war media guide
I think this is the first time Harry’s Place has linked to a Janet Daley article but in The Telegraph she offers an excellent guide to how the anti-war camp should respond to future events in Iraq:
What To Say If:
Saddam refuses to co-operate with his interrogators.
The arrest of this man is a sideshow. He clearly [...]
Posted: December 18th, 2003 under War etc.
Wot No Politics?
Here’s the list of winners of the Guardian’s 2003 Best Blog awards.
Posted: December 18th, 2003 under Blogland.
Plane Facts
A letter in today’s Times quoting Air Forces Monthly sets out a list of the countries which supplied arms to Iraq and the relative proportion of weapons supplied by each between 1980 and 1990.
For those without access to the Times I reproduce the findings below
Between 1980 and 1990 Iraq imported $28.9 billion of weapons (Air [...]
Posted: December 18th, 2003 under War etc.
All hail the respective local solidarity caucuses
In what appears to be a poor translation from some other language, the Campo Antiimperialista website reports on Saturday’s demonstration in Rome in support of the Iraqi “resistance.”
Although the report was posted on Tuesday, there’s no mention of that little matter of the capture of Saddam Hussein.
CA is claiming up to a thousand participants in [...]
Posted: December 18th, 2003 under War etc.