blessed britons

'My British sources purported not to know what was going on, but they knew what the American plan was. There were bodies being washed up on the lawns of the British consulate in Surabayo, and British warships escorted a ship full of Indonesian troops down the Malacca Straits, so that they could take part in this terrible holocaust. It was only much later that we learned the American embassy was supplying names and ticking them off as they were killed. There was a deal, you see. In establishing the Suharto regime, the involvement of the IMF and the World Bank was part of it. Sukarno had kicked them out now Suharto would bring them back. That was the deal.'

— Roland Challis

mad world

... for the poor to get slightly less poor, the rich have to get very much richer, implying patterns of consumption which, in a world facing climate change, cannot be sustained. It now takes around $166 worth of global growth - made up of all those energy-hungry giant flat screen TVs and sports utility vehicles - to generate a single dollar of poverty reduction for people in absolute poverty, compared with just $45 dollars in the 1980s.

— Andrew Simms

Ending poverty in a carbon-constrained world

hedging his bets

Submitted by antarchi on May 29, 2008 - 17:30.

The language of resolution 1441 leaves the position unclear ...Arguments can be made on both sides... I accept that a reasonable case can be made that resolution 1441 is capable in principle of reviving the authorisation in 678 without a further resolution... but a "reasonable case" does not mean that if the matter ever came before a court I would be confident that the court would agree with this view.

I judge that, having regard to the arguments on both sides, and considering the resolution as a whole in the light of the statements made on adoption and subsequently, a court might well conclude that OPs 4 and 12 do require a further Council decision in order to revive the authorisation in resolution 678. But equally I consider that the counter view can be reasonably maintained.'

mostly nuggets

blessed britons

mad world

hedging his bets