April 2004

"If the Kurds are taken out of the equation, more than half of Iraqis say killing U.S. troops can be justified in at least some cases."

"September 11 had made NZ passports more valuable. NZ was a small, neutral country seen by the Arab world as sympathetic."

"the Chinese do have reason to fear terrorism, but they have exaggerated the problem for political reasons"

"Canberra announced in 2002 that it would no longer submit to rulings by the International Court of Justice on maritime boundaries."

"No inter-racial relationships, no adultery, no one-night stands, no politics, religion or other gritty social issues, no subplots, no same-sex couplings. The hero must be an 'Alpha Male'. He cannot be German."

I think it's important to remove the posters of Kerry because he currently stands for all things that are anti-Bush (and cf Brandenburg v Ohio)

now they just need to tackle sugar... (why is sugar the biggest recipient of subsidies in both Europe and the US?)

Australia has declined to bail them out, even though they're hosting one of our refugee detention camps

"to KBR people, they're not soldiers, they're just some of those disgusting things that cut into their free time"

"The US can cut its losses now or maintain a war with no clear and just purpose, no victory in sight, and no realistic chance of reducing terrorism"

"Al-Jazeera has a track record of accurate reporting - which is why its journalists have been criminalised and its offices bombed"

Israel, Beast Government, and Oil are pulling their weight, but we're being held back by slack Satanists and a lack of Volcanoes

"Several lady librarians have kept company with us. BlöödHag don't make passes at girls who don't wear glasses. No specs, no sex."

"Vietnam, China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei each claim all or part of the tiny low-lying islands"

"Buskers will no longer have to give their proceeds to charity, although they will still have to audition"

"people fear that once a large proportion of women and children leave, the Americans will destroy the city"

"Nobody ever expected the eye of a super typhoon to hit Yap head on. ... traditionally, the Yap sorcerers and magicians have had the powers to divert typhoons. ... Maybe as many as 5,000 Yapese have lost their homes."

"shopkeepers who rely on the passing custom of the crowds of pilgrims are now closing up early in despair"

"by emphasizing public works over piety, Hezbollah has succeeded in embedding itself deeply into Lebanese society"

"a terrible outbreak of tuberculosis 20 years ago selectively killed off the biggest, nastiest and most despotic males, setting the stage for a social and behavioral transformation"

"the United States [is now locked] into permanent, full-fledged support for the creation of an apartheid Israel -- complete with bantustans"

"Are tanks, troops and violence the only face of America? If the Pentagon, Department of Defense and Condi are "America", then yes- I hate America."

"a quarter of the new Iraqi security forces had 'quit, changed sides, or otherwise failed to perform their duties'"

the Ukrainians have evacuated Kut and the US has admitted it hasn't had a presence in many Iraqi cities for some time

"Rob Pike has gone to Google. ... OS, networking, and distributed systems. Compiler Optimization. Thread migration. Distributed shared memory."

it's a fantasy, of course, but socialism is one of the few alternatives to Islam or nationalism capable of gathering mass support

"Sago Palm is far more productive than rice, producing 100-200 kg per palm, enough to feed a family of 4-5 for a month"

"most Iraqis aren't even interested in high politics; they're worried about the same things as Americans - jobs, healthcare, and education."

General Wiranto is a candidate for a Golkar president, even though the US has placed him on a watch list of war crimes suspects

it should behave like CNN, where "Israeli officials boast that they have only to call a number at the network's headquarters in Atlanta to pull any story they do not like."

"The things we learned to do badly in 1979, upon the debut of VisiCalc, we mostly continue to do wrong today."