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TALLRITE BLOG You can write to blog@tallrite.com |
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| JANUARY 2003 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ISSUE #25 - 26th January 2003 [61]
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Yet another Iraq dossier - the fourth - has just been issued, this time by America. It's called "Apparatus of Lies" and sets out in a dozen pages Saddam Hussein's disinformation and propaganda over the period 1990 to 2003. With an extensive bibliography and 31 references (most of them non-Governmental) it makes for convincing reading. The dossier divides the behaviour of Saddam and his regime into four categories.
Worth reading for the details. And if you haven't already studied them or read my earlier piece and you have the stomach for it, the other three dossiers are :
But
be quick, there's another one coming. Today's Sunday Telegraph leads
with : “Blair demands new dossier to
drum up support for Iraq war”. While we're on the subject, do you think the following amount to a “material breach” of said UN Resolution 1441 ?
The inspectors are not in the country on a scavenger hunt for weapons. They are there to confirm that Iraq has destroyed and dismantled the weapons that the UN knows exist. In the absence of evidence that it has done so, are we safe to assume that they have all disappeared ? Certainly sounds like a material breach to me.
Palestinians Campaign for Likud Do the Palestinians have rocks in their heads or do they not want their war with Israel to be replaced with a peace settlement ? Israel's last four governments, each democratically elected, have alternated between “soft” and “hard”.
Regardless of whether you support them, it is to Israel's considerable credit that it has a powerful democratic system which, when confronted with failure, allows different approaches and different leaders to be given a chance. Would that the Palestinians were given such opportunity. Nevertheless, the Palestinians are playing, as they always have done and whether they like it or not, a crucial rôle in influencing Israel's next choice of party and leader.
And which of the two parties are the Palestinians backing ? The continuing attacks over the past two weeks show they are voting convincingly for the hardline Likud party. At the same time the Palestinians are distracting attention away from corruption scandals involving Mr Sharon's son Omri and other party members. They can't believe their luck.
SimDesk - Houston Replaces Microsoft Office The US Department of Justice spent years dragging Microsoft through the courts to prove it is a wicked monopolist and should therefore be broken up. Although most of us might have thought the case was obvious, Microsoft with its army of lawyers managed to slide out of it all with little more than a slap on the wrist and the promise of better behaviour in the future. But if the DoJ were unable to tweak the tail of one of America's mightiest corporations, the City of Houston in Texas has. It all started after Microsoft threatened to audit Houston for allegedly having more copies of Microsoft Office than they have licences for, unless Houston signed a new three-year $12 million contract. This bully-boy approach has backfired badly. According to USA Today, it galvanised Houston to think of alternatives to Microsoft Office. As a result of a chance meeting on an aircraft, Houston has awarded a five-year $9˝m contract to an obscure, unproven competitor called SimDesk, to replace Microsoft Office on the desks of some 6,500 city workers and, eventually, up to three million city residents. It is true that SimDesk does not possess all the glorious (and about 90% unused) functionality of Microsoft Office, but it is apparently perfectly adequate for the word processing and spreadsheeting that most people require, and is easy to learn and use. Meanwhile, not only is SimDesk way cheaper to buy, but It operates from a central server rather than being installed on every PC. This means Houston don't have to upgrade their existing computers. Had they stuck to Microsoft, they would, in addition to that $12m contract, have had to replace thousands of computers to enable them to run Office XP. Microsoft, known by many as “the evil empire”, are whinging but seem powerless. Few are shedding tears.
Saturday night a week ago, 18th January, the city of Limerick in the Munster province of Ireland erupted in an all-night orgy of revelry. Limerick is the heart of rugby in Ireland, and the Munster rugby team, in their crummy home ground of Thomond Park, had just pulled off an utterly impossible win against the (hitherto) all-conquering English club, Gloucester in the annual Heineken European Rugby Cup competition. Having played in the semi-finals and/or finals of this prestigious competition for the past three years, yet never won, Munster were on the verge of being booted unceremoniously out of the competition. Their only chance was to defeat Gloucester (who three months earlier had trounced them 35-16) by no fewer than four tries and 27 points. In an extraordinary match, that for Munstermen is equalled only by the classic 12-0 defeat in 1978 of New Zealand's All Blacks that has spawned an award-winning stage play, Alone It Stands, Munster defeated Gloucester by the required margin, with the winning two points coming only in the last seconds of injury time. The final score was 33-6 in front of a frenetic crowd of 14,000. Gloucester just didn't know what had happened to them. Then over the next couple of days, a curious story emerged. Limerick taxi-driver and avid Munster fan Tom O'Donnell will tell you he is small, fat, bald, 52 and now the toast of Limerick, and considering launching himself on the after-dinner speaking circuit. The day before the match, he happened to carry in his taxi an official of the Gloucester contingent, who committed the fatal mistake of leaving behind in the car Gloucester's top-secret game-plan. Tom realised what it was, but at first no-one would listen to him. It was only with great difficulty that he managed to deliver it to the Munster squad on the morning of the match. Thus it was that Munster knew in advance
This undoubtedly helped towards the win, though they will never admit it. In one of the many radio interviews that followed after the story broke, Tom was asked whether he considered giving the game-plan back to Gloucester rather than passing it to the opposition. A stunned silence followed - he simply did not understand the question. It was like expecting the British to return the Enigma machine to the Nazis. Gloucester have considered taking some kind of legal action, but, frankly, they are just too embarrassed by everything to do with their disastrous weekend in Limerick. So that's the story of why Tom O'Donnell is the toast of Limerick !
Flt Lt Henry Botterell, 1896-2003 Henry Botterell died in Toronto earlier this month at the massive age of 106, the last surviving fighter pilot of World War I. Flying his Sopwith Camel biplane, his one "kill" was to shoot down a German observation balloon in Northern France in 1918, as illustrated in this painting. By then he had crashed three planes, nearly annihilating himself in the process. As well as countless bombing raids (tossing bombs by hand out of the cockpit) over the course of the four year war, he also participated in seven dogfights, clocked up 251 combat hours and claimed he had also killed an enemy observer. Every dogfight ended with bullet holes and flak damage to his plane. In those days, planes were made of wood and canvas and I am reminded of how my own grandfather, eight years his senior, escaped from the trenches and all the horror that they entailed. He was an upholsterer by trade, and his possession of curved needles (seen as a novelty) coupled with his skill in wielding them found him a ready home in the Royal Flying Corps. He spent the rest of the war sewing up aircraft battle-damaged like Flight Lieutenant Botterell's. I wonder did they ever meet.
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ISSUE #24 - 19th January 2003 [60]
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America and Britain are in the final stages of launching their war against the Iraqi regime (with or without another UN resolution, with or without further allies). Lots of people - besides Saddam - object to this, though none ever come up with a coherent alternative strategy for dealing with
Many “whatabouters” say
It doesn't make sense, they claim. In fact it makes chillingly good sense. This table compares some of the nasty qualities of Kim Jong Il's North Korea and Saddam Hussein's Iraq.
See how similar they are to each other. But a couple of key contrasts and conclusions stand out.
North Korea thus provides the very reason to attack and disarm Saddam. And NOW while it's still possible, before he gets his bomb and starts using or selling it. North Korea, because of its nuclear arsenal, is essentially non-attackable. But Kim Jong Il cannot help but notice and be influenced by a swift and successful action to disarm Iraq, and thus to be more inclined to negotiate a reasonable and verifiable stand-off arrangement with the rest of the world.
So it will be with Kim Jong Il after Saddam has been disarmed and eliminated. He will start being sensible. The effect on other dictatorships in Arabia will likewise be benign.
Meanwhile, over the past few days we've seen anti-war protests in New York, Washington, Bahrein, Berlin, Cairo, Christchurch, Goteburg, Karachi, London, Moscow, Paris, Shannon, Tokyo, and God knows where else. But if the protesters don't want war, why are they massing outside US embassies and other US institutions ? For it is not the USA but Iraq, under the thumb of Saddam Hussein, who for more than a decade has been violating binding UN resolutions - including agreements he specifically signed up to as a condition of ending the 1991 Gulf War. The upcoming Second Gulf War is the direct consequence if his violatory actions and his alone. So if the peaceniks don't want war, it is to Iraqi embassies and institutions that they should direct their rage. Otherwise, it means they support Saddam's violations and regime. Not to mention his human rights abuses so eloquently articulated in Tony Blair's graphic and compelling dossier (197 kb)
Child Pornography and Sentencing On 8th September 1999, the FBI raided the home of Thomas and Janice Reedy in Fort Worth, Texas and found that the couple were providing child pornography to some 35,000 subscribers in the US. On further investigation under the code name Operation Avalanche, it emerged that they were in fact
The FBI set about identifying the US and foreign subscribers from their credit card details, which they then passed to police forces in the subscribers' countries of residence. These included 7,000 in the UK and some hundreds in Ireland. In Ireland, over 100 homes were raided simultaneously last May, including those of a barrister, a choirmaster, a solicitor, a health authority official, a teacher, a circuit court judge and a celebrity TV chef. The first two trials were set for last week, and out of a possible 100 defendants it is odd that two high-profile individuals were selected, the judge and the chef. The circuit court judge obtained a three month deferment on the grounds of ill-health (though was later spotted drinking a pint in a pub). The celebrity TV chef, Tim Allen, is widely known throughout the country, as are his mother and his wife both also celebrity TV chefs. He pleaded guilty to possession of 92 child pornography images and was convicted. However his non-custodial sentence of a €40,000 donation to charity and 240 hours of community service has provoked outrage due to the leniency and the perceived ability of the wealthy to buy themselves out of trouble. But more pernicious is the precedent it sets for the future prosecutions. Because when a man of lesser means is threatened with jail, he is bound to plead that this is only due to his lack of wealth and fame. Moreover, if a millionaire is fined €40,000, his own fine should be proportionately less. The mismanagement of the Tim Allen case may thus, in Ireland, devalue the severity of child pornography into a mere misdemeanour. The Americans understand the gravity of this foulest of crimes far better. Thomas Reedy is currently serving a prison sentence of 1,335 years. Not days. Years.
In common, I imagine, with most of you, I receive on a weekly basis one or more e-mails from a stranger saying he (or sometimes she) is a Nigerian or Cameroonian or Ghanaian or Angolan or Congolese or from some other African country. He is either a senior functionary in the Finance Ministry or else the close relative of a departed despot (such as Sani Abacha or Laurent Kabila). He has gained access to a huge sum of money (up to $60m) and would I please provide a safe haven for it in return for 30%. All I have to do is provide my bank details. This is known as the “419 Fraud”, after the relevant section of the Nigerian Criminal Code. If you don't want your bank account plundered or Nigerian arrest warrants issued or countless other interesting developments in your life, the only response is to hit the Delete button - pronto. Have a look at this excellent fraud alert issued by London's Metropolitan Police Force, which provides full details about the 419.
What did you do when you were 16 years old and for the next five years ?
No, nor did I. I was a pretty boring youth compared with handsome, charismatic Frank Abagnale from New York. Sadly, the law eventually caught up with him and he was sentenced to twelve years in the slammer. But after only five years he struck his cleverest deal of all. The FBI, realising his expertise in embezzlement and swindling, freed him in return for help to catch other con-men. And he wrote his life-story, Catch Me If You Can, suitably embellished (as you would expect) to make it even more dashing and glamorous. From there he went on to become a suave consultant assisting major companies to thwart all kinds of fraud. A pillar of society, Frank is now a 54-year-old family man, and professes to be embarrassed that Hollywood have made a movie of his life (though being played by that girlie Leonardo di Caprio is enough to embarrass anyone). A role model for all.
The phone rings:
Take a look at the pictures ..... you won't believe it.
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ISSUE #23 - 12th January 2003 [58]
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| Afghanistan
One Year On
The
new transitional Afghan government under the charismatic, English-speaking
President Karzai has been in power for scarcely a year.
It was inaugurated via a “Loya Jirga”, which is a traditional
Afghan consultative assembly in which all shades of opinion (bar the
ousted Talibans’ !) was heard. Short
of the pan-Afghanistan elections planned
for late 2003 the assembly represents the closest thing to
democracy the country has ever seen.
No
longer hitting every day’s headlines, the country has quietly been undergoing an
encouraging transformation and reconstruction, thanks to the financial and
other support of some sixty nations, with the US as the biggest single
donor. In a dramatic vote
of confidence in the future, over two million Afghan refugees have
returned to Afghanistan to remake their lives. It’s
worth recounting some of the achievements.
Last
month, Afghanistan and six
neighbouring countries signed the “Kabul Declaration on Good Neighborly
Relations”. This is a pledge to respect Afghanistan’s independence and
territorial integrity, to offer co-operation, non-interference and
goodwill – vital pre-conditions for future domestic security.
Meanwhile, there have been :
In the 15 months since the 9/11 atrocity, the UNHCR has spent $848m on on humanitarian relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction, including $100m in food aid and $140m for resettling the 2m returning refugees.
This information comes from a press release last month by Philip Reeker of the US State Department and a press conference with Andrew Natsios of USAID.
Not only is all this extremely encouraging in its own right, but it give the lie to those who said war against the Taliban in Afghanistan would ravage the country for decades. The reverse is true. It is the war that has liberated the Afghan people and enabled reconstruction to race ahead.
The same naysayers are making the same claims in respect of the coming war to remove the Saddam regime from the Iraq it has systematically tortured, devasted and disgraced over the past 20 years. They will similarly be proved wrong.
As will their underlying preference to leave Saddam in place to do his worst rather than remove him.
Ireland - Europe's Refugee Haven The Geneva Convention states that a refugee is someone with “a well-founded fear of persecution”. However, Ireland's asylum-seekers all arrive after departing from mainland Europe or Britain, where there is no persecution. They are therefore not refugees; they are illegal immigrants. Further, Rudd Lubber, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, advocates one refugee per 1,000 citizens for the host country, which he believes would eliminate Europe's refugee problem. In 2002 Ireland had four asylum-seekers per 1,000 citizens, compared with only 1.2 in Britain. Just two years ago, the figures were 0.7 and 2.9 respectively, demonstrating how popular Ireland has become. Meanwhile, to support illegal immigrants who should not be there, Ireland is
spending €300
million per annum. This is being paid not by society's wealthy, but by
those being deprived of its use - the homeless and thousands on housing
waiting lists. Ireland's homelessness problem would be solved with
just €40 million given to the charity groups established for that
purpose. That would still leave €260 million, enough to build
2,000 social houses per annum. A significant indirect cost, among many, is the way rents have grown
due to the increased demand from illegal immigrants who are are competing
with the poorest in society for the available space. Why do these illegal immigrants leave France, Germany, Holland, Britain, etc, and come to a wet windswept island on the western fringe of Europe, in unprecedented numbers ? Simply, because it is by far the best deal in Europe. Ireland contributes to the problem by having no coherent strategy for managing legal immigration. What it badly needs is a joined-up immigration policy, that
But meanwhile, at least there is no tunnel under the Irish Sea for them to pour through.
As we all well remember, Republican George W Bush became the US's 43rd president only after a nail-biting election. The count was so close in the crucial swing state of Florida, that it took six weeks before the US Supreme Court forbade further recounts and declared W as the winner. The favourite, Democrat Vice President Al Gore, had lost. The final tally was
Democrats were understandably outraged, since Gore won more votes than W. To this day, many of them still complain that Bush is an illegitimate leader. They are joined by left-liberals in the US and abroad who abhor Bush's policy (and success) in tackling world terrorism, some even saying that his elevation to power is as undemocratic as Saddam's. But this is to misunderstand the underlying philosophy of the American presidential election system. It uses an “electoral college” (EC) whereby each US State has a certain number of electoral college votes depending on its geographical size, population, history and other factors. For example,
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