Mugabe’s desperation is growing. He’s charged his leading opponent with, what else, treason. If he wins the election, the country, rich in natural resources, will continue to drift into poverty. More likely, though, he will lose the election and leave the country–he’s already prepared his escape route. Who’s the traitor here?
The Pentagon is considering proposals to plant false news items in the press abroad in an effort to sway public opinion towards the American position. Must be because the “War on Terra” is finally entering its gray phase, where we don’t hear about Bin Laden anymore, or about what our troops are doing in Afghanistan anymore, or even about the detainees (whether the ones in Guantanamo Bay or those held by the US government as material witnesses).
Today is my birthday. And I have a cold, sore throat, and a horrible-sounding cough, apparently acquired sometime this week while we were on vacation. Ugh.
I was away for a week, attending a friend’s wedding in Honolulu and then spending some quiet time in Kauai. We did an eight mile hike along the Na Pali coast, and saw some amazing views. It was quite muddy and slippery, but we still had a great time. I’ll try and post pictures sometime soon.
Who says Arabs don’t have a sense of humor?
As the Americans continue their hunt for Osama Bin Laden, the world’s most wanted man is inspiring a rare glimmer of humour. A musical satire by a Jordanian-Palestinian ridicules the Saudi militant and his vision of Islam. (…) He tells the audience that he is ready to travel to Washington to hand himself over to US President George Bush but on one condition - “You come with me and I fly the plane!”
How could she possibly not have known?
Junge was one of Adolf Hitler’s secretaries. She took down his last will and testament. She was in his bunker when he committed suicide in 1945. She has just published her book, Through The Final Hours, which was based on notes she compiled in 1946. She herself died in the night of Sunday to Monday, hours after a long-awaited and widely publicised documentary on her life was given its premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. (…) Junge insisted that Hitler and other Nazi leaders “practically never mentioned the word Jew” in her presence, even though it was while she was working for the Fuhrer that his regime killed most of the 6m Jews who died in the Holocaust. She said she only found out about the Holocaust after the war, and then felt wracked with guilt for having liked “the greatest criminal who ever lived”.
The story of Traudl Junge
Interesting parallels between that silence and the many other resounding silences around the world, at other times, and even now.
This is what it takes to get a publisher freedom of expression in Turkey?
A Turkish publisher accused of disseminating separatist propaganda was acquitted yesterday after one of his authors -the celebrated American linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky - appeared in an Istanbul court and asked to be tried alongside him. In a case highlighting the limited freedom of expression permitted in discussions about Turkey’s treatment of its Kurdish minority, the director of Aram Publishing, Fatih Tas, escaped the one-year jail sentence he had been anticipating. “The prosecutor clearly made the right decision,” said Professor Chomsky, who had petitioned to be named as a co-defendant. “I hope it will be a step toward establishing the freedom of speech in Turkey that we all want to see. I am here to express support for the writers, journalists and human rights activists who are willing to take serious risks.”
Now Mrs. Montgomery can finally get herself a new Fifi: Copied Cat is First Kitty Clone, Scientists Say
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