Collected posts from the various blogs I’ve contributed to since 2002.
This seemed to make the whole thing a little clearer. They don’t care about weapons inspections. But then the end of the article approached and the double-speak returned. Long live obfuscation?
I’m still quite taken with the speed of my transit from Belfast to Reading. I calculate that it took 3.5 hours door-to-door and that I could have shaved a good half hour to 45 minutes from that if I’d started the day with a ticket in my hands. I’d known for some time that I could do that in theory, but the practice was so easy. That’s barely more time than it takes me to reach my parents'. ...
Once again I was woken with a text. For some reason, someone thought that I’d appreciate an invitation to join them at the pub this evening if it was sent at 6.45am. Anyone who has similar ideas, please note: that is not the best way to tempt me to visit a pub. This’ll be last entry from this Belfast trip as I fly back to Heathrow in a few hours’ time. It’s been a very chilled out time and it’ll be interesting to see how my body reacts to a sudden return to a rather faster paced life. To truly get an understanding of how most of our time has been spent, you’d have to wade through quite a few books, records, and such wonderful things. But then you could just follow this link (thanks to gary) ...
Awoken by a message on my mobile from Seattle, I’ve just been browsing the web a little more and enjoying the small pleasures of instant messaging. Thinking about these strange connections we’ve built for ourselves. Last night Channel 4 ran some more short films as part of their “which side are you on?” exploration of the rumours of war in the middle east. Thought provoking stuff. The first film–by an american living in london asking us brits to help the usa avoid war–reminded me of how grateful I am to have so many american friends who help me see past foreign and economic policies I can’t abide. To see that there is hope beyond the hegemony and that there are voices of love within. I think without that knowledge, things would be a whole lot harder. ...
Aimee Mann’s latest record is playing in the background as I type this. It’s the first CD I’ve heard since buying that new Beck record. I guess I’m still on first impressions of Sea Change but they’re good impressions. It’s been a while since I found a melancholic album to love, but if that were how I filed my CDs, this would take a prominent place. As it is, I doubt it will be filed for a while. ...
I guess I fall pretty squarely into the category of those who have, for the past year at least, become known as anti-american. And that’s why I turned fairly quickly to Arundhati Roy’s article in yesterday’s guardian. It’s a recurring theme for so many that our society’s desire for labels sets up dichotomies which rob us of the freedom to express nuanced beliefs. I wish I knew how to reclaim that. {I wish I could think how to structure that penultimate sentence} ...
So it’s been some days since this was last updated. Days of receiving much hospitality in Dublin and Belfast. Days of reading, talking, playing cards, writing (in other places) and changing plans for flying home. Many thanks are due, particularly to bananie and Susan for Belfast hospitality (and to the rest, but I don’t know that you have websites…) Time for reading is a great asset. I now hope to be the first person at the University of Reading to quote Ben Okri in an essay on quantum theory. And what’s more, I think the quote will help the essay as well as my notoriety in the department in which I study. ...
It feels a little like Bush’s speech on September 11th has made a hole in some floodgates. Since then, outspoken critics of US foreign policy have had a new hook on which to hang our arguments. This piece in the Guardian, the fore-runner to a documentary on Saturday explicitly links the US regime with the cult of (roman) empire which was a dominant force in the culture the early church was born into. It feels a little like the “you’re either for us or against us” has finally sunk in and a lot of foreign (and some domestic) critics are simply accepting that the Bush regime has forced them onto the opposing side. ...
I’m trying to work out how to respond to the news today. On the surface, Iraq’s latest offer appears fantastic: if it’s serious it should destroy all this talk of war and allow for increased security in that region. It’s no surprise, but rather sad, that the US government appears to be dismissing the offer out-of-hand. As with Afghanistan a year before, I wonder what exactly the Iraqi government could do to convince the US of any sincerity. Certainly they could hand over a stockpile of weapons, but that would require them to have the weapons in the first place…. if they don’t have weapons of mass destruction, is there anything they could ever do to convince Bush of the fact? ...
I’ve been searching for the photo from Friday’s Guardian online. The one with George Bush speaking to the UN while behind him and above him Kofi Annan holds his head in his hands. It’s a marvellous piece of photojournalism. It says it all. While I continue to search, this article is worth a read. If anyone knows where I can find the image (it was by reuters and used by the Guardian and the Independent for their front covers) please do post a comment and pass on the link. ...