Golan Cipel, the man at the centre of the sex scandal engulfing former New Jersey Governor James E. McGreevey declared to the press today, “I am a straight Israeli.” He continued, “Many people in the World today believe that there is something unnatural about my nationality; some even refuse to believe that citizens like me […]
Read MoreAdam proposes a vigil. He asks how long will it take for this Ha’aretz story about Arafat’s latest shenanigans to appear here, where the BBC covers “the Middle East”.
Read MoreNorm is too polite. Scotland’s “Poet Laureate” combines a tin ear, bathos, and fashionable stupidity to give us a poem about Saddam that William McGonagall would have been proud of. Please, someone, tell me it was a spoof, written to draw in people like us.
Read More“So you are saying we just ask the Americans to let us install our spies in Iraq?” “Why not? They've fallen for everything else.”
Read More[Thanks to Leasey] My street is full of Guardian-readers. I have leafletted it many times for the Labour Party and rolled my eyes at the windows full of anti-war posters and photocopied invitations to “subversive” gatherings of poets and “thinkers”. I've tried hard not to get into arguments about pre-emptive military action and top-up fees, […]
Read MoreI like watching Right-wingers flip between saluting Singapore as an “Asian tiger” and squirming at its cramping nannyism. Lately, as this week's Economist reported, the city-state has been doing its best to persuade the rest of the World that the country that banned oral sex between consenting adults and the sale of the magazine Cosmopolitan […]
Read MoreI'd just like to begin today by saying thank you on behalf of the people of India, Egypt and Kenya to the government of the Philippines.
Read MoreIn an effort to keep PooterGeek ahead of the rest of the 'Blogging competition I bring you a new feature: “Pooter's Futures”—stories obtained anything up to twelve months in advance using tachyon-based Web time-travel technology. Arafat Kidnapped By Arafat Following his refusal to accept his own resignation as Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat today took himself […]
Read MoreThanks to Nicholas and Hind for listening to my woes and cheering me up Friday evening at Nick's impressively well-attended party. Hind told me that one of her friends had come along to my last gig in Brighton and liked it so much he bought the CD. Nicholas told me, to my surprise, that I […]
Read MoreAh, we've been expecting you, Commander Blair. Do please sit down. Thank you, schir. I and my fellow members of this inquiry are fully aware of the sensitivity of your role. Rest assured that no information about you nor any specifics of your professional activities will leave this room and that the transcript of our […]
Read MoreThis week, Anthony Cox mentioned another view of Saddam's big head-to-head and Mick Hartley put forward another theory about the England football team's. What do they have in common? Scissors, paper, and stone.
Read MoreThe Anonymous Economist drew my attention to this one in the New York Times this morning. You can draw your own conclusions about which group of organizations it damns most completely.
Read MoreThe Anonymous Economist sends me Paul Krugman's opinion piece in the New York Times today. Krugman meets expectations: he makes some valid points about American incompetence and corruption in Iraq's reconstruction; then he blows it with his conclusion: “Let's say the obvious. By making Iraq a playground for right-wing economic theorists, an employment agency for […]
Read MoreIraq begins self-rule ahead of schedule. NATO promises 10 000 troops to secure Afghanistan's upcoming elections. Evidence appears in support of the Accelerated Life Theory of Britney Spears, within hours of my first postulating it. Unfortunately, I can't think of anything to write about any of these things.
Read MoreMy mate Tony Blair's emailing me again. After I complained about the Word documents he kept sending me, he kindly switched to HTML mail with minimal formatting and a graphic of his signature at the end. He attaches a slightly more elaborate PDF document telling me what's wrong with the Tories' plans for the National […]
Read MoreLeasey brings us a fascinating tiny game. I could warn you of the little wrinkles, but you'll have more fun working them out for yourself. She also recommends that we catch up on the latest drama in Britney's life. It's not just the world of international refereeing that's gone topsy-turvy: pork scratchings are becoming a […]
Read MoreThis isn't looking good for Rumsfeld. I certainly hope so anyway. [New York Times link—requires registration and small buccal sample; honestly, it won't hurt at all.]
Read MoreLast week, Backword Dave sneered at Eve Garrard's cool, analytical dismantling of Amnesty's recent pronouncements about the Iraq “war”: “I gather Ms Garrard is not a regular blogger, so she may be excused understanding of the ground rules, but if you want to say that something is 'no part of Amnesty's remit,' a link is […]
Read MoreHow I'm going to miss them. The “Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq” and their completely misleading Cambridge University crest are to morph into “Cambridge Solidarity with Iraq”. It's about fifteen years too late for most of the dead, guys. You're in good company: that was Rumsfeld's problem too. Never mind, nice to have you along […]
Read MoreRichard Cohen in The Washington Post, makes some important points about the US Justice Department's torture memos, bits of paper which are, in a way, more shocking than photos of piles of naked Iraqi prisoners. It's not a bad piece until Cohen resorts to the cliché “winning hearts and minds”, then your toes will clench […]
Read MoreFurther to my flip' suggestion to the Arabians, Tim Blair quotes a supposed eye-witness report.
Read MoreAmericans and British give French the finger: pictures at eleven.
Read MoreGod Save The Queen is an excellent, thoughtful, new 'Blog. In contrast to PooterGeek, I doubt its author will ever storm out of the bathroom mid-shower to denounce something he's just heard on BBC Radio 4. The latest two posts there are insightful about the successful exercise of state power through history. Claire [the llama […]
Read MoreIn tomorrow's edition, Mark Steyn, The Spectator's token remaining clueful columnist, picks at the rotting corpse of the Saudi Arabian body politic [registration required, no artificial sweeteners, please give your full attention to the safety demonstration]. While I'm telling you what's in tomorrow's papers, Percussionist is going to win the Vodafone Derby tomorrow.
Read MoreSome surprising sources have hinted at incompetence on the part of the Saudi security forces in allowing the escape of three out of four racist mass-murderers. This an egregious libel, of a sort not heard since the promotion of conspiracy theories alleging that Saudi Arabia was in some way involved in terrorist attacks on the […]
Read MoreYesterday evening I listened to Warwick University‘s Iraq “expert”, Toby Dodge, tell BBC Radio 4’s The World Tonight that the Iraqi Governing Council’s choice for Prime Minister was “the worst one possible”. His argument seemed plausible and well-informed. Then I had a google into Dr Dodge’s past. Here he is arguing that only offering to […]
Read MoreIf you’re interested and don’t already know the story, today’s Guardian prints a swift run-through of the behind-the-scenes events leading to and from the Hutton Enquiry, as extracted from an expanded edition of Blair’s Wars. The substance of the account seems plausible, though I suspect some Gilliganesque decoration of the dialogue. Do you believe this […]
Read MoreIraq’s football (soccer) team has qualified for the Olympics. I fancy their chances, after reading this headline.
Read MoreLast week I had another rant at John Humphrys‘ continued myth-telling. Ann Clwyd, Left-wing Labour MP and long-timer campaigner for human rights in Iraq was his interviewee during the item that provoked that outburst, and appeared on Today in her capacity as UK Human Rights Envoy to the country. Thanks to Harry’s Place I found […]
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