a berlin blog
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a berlin blog |
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Tuesday, August 31, 2004 Thatcher and the Dogs of WarSorry for the long radio silence; I was in Holland for my grandmother's birthday. On the flight home I noticed that the London Times seemed to have good coverage of the coup attempt last spring in Equatorial Guinea by Mark Thatcher's unsavory friends. It seems the U.S. Defense Department may have known about the idea beforehand. Anyway, the whole silly thing follows a recognizable pattern: a) Spot ruthless dictator sitting on fat reserves of oil, b) assemble rich friends, c) plan semi-private (in Thatcher's case, entirely private) raid to oust the bastard, and d) start pumping oil for benefit of major investors. Oh, and e) neglect important details, so plan goes south. The Times notes that Margaret's knighted, spoiled son is a bit dim --When it comes to intellect, few would accuse Mann [a main coup plotter] and Thatcher of being among the sharpest tools in the box. -- but he didn't have to look far for inspiration. NOTE: This post begins a week of ignoring the Republican National Convention here at Radio Free Mike. posted by Michael Scott Moore | 1:21 AM (0) comments Wednesday, August 18, 2004 Whoa
A photographer named Sholihuddin from the Java Post caught this picture outside a soccer game and won a World Press Photo of the year Award for 1996. The Java Post is very proud of the shot; they have large prints of it on the wall in reception areas. An editor told me the story: Indonesian soldiers had arranged to drive a bunch of poor kids to the game in vans, and this overloaded ride toppled. No one, incredibly, died. More blogging on Indonesia, in case you missed it earlier, starts down here. posted by Michael Scott Moore | 4:35 PM (0) comments Tuesday, August 17, 2004 Essay QuestionA reviewer called Jaydekitten on Amazon's page for the novel expresses bafflement:My biggest problem with this book is that I couldn't quite grasp the point that Michael Scott Moore was attempting to present to the reader. Non-conformism is a dangerous thing? Because attempting to be an individual turns Tom's life into shambles and the second Eric steps away from his moral ideals, it gets him killed. Do you agree with this statement? Disagree? If so, how or why? Remember to support your answer with evidence, and feel free to post it on Amazon. posted by Michael Scott Moore | 5:32 PM (0) comments Monday, August 16, 2004 Why is this such a grim summer?Jim Miller, who went to high school with several known readers of this blog, committed suicide last week in El Segundo. posted by Michael Scott Moore | 7:46 PM (0) commentsSunday, August 15, 2004 UprisingsFareed Zakaria, one of the few reasons to read Newsweek, has a fine column on the war so far. He argues that Kerry's sophisticated public fudging on whether to invade Iraq hides a serious answer:The ... intelligent question is, given what we knew at the time, was toppling Saddam's regime a worthwhile objective? Bush's answer is yes, Howard Dean's is no. Kerry's answer is that it was a worthwhile objective but was disastrously executed. For this "nuance" Kerry has been attacked from both the right and the left. But it happens to be the most defensible position on the subject. Where Zakaria doesn't go is whether Bush knew there were no weapons to fight over in Iraq. This article argues he did. I think so, too. At least Bush wasn't serious about learning the truth, which makes the "pre-emption" idea that Kissinger took so seriously a silly and dangerous game. posted by Michael Scott Moore | 6:50 PM (0) comments Wednesday, August 11, 2004 Oh, PleaseThis Washington Times piece has set off a worldwide flurry of press reports about Al-Qaeda plans to assassinate some high-level politician. The threat might be real -- how do I know? -- but Reuters has done its own reporting and found, horror of horrors, a threat against Bush on a web site:The sketch of a plot to target US President George W. Bush surfaced on an online magazine of al Qaida's organisation in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. A one-line answer to a Saut al-Jihad reader's query said: "The plan you have drawn up to assassinate Bush is good but would need a lot of preparation." "Perhaps you can take part in it, if possible, and thanks," the magazine told the reader — named only as Madad — without giving further details. The reader's question was not published. Give me a break. posted by Michael Scott Moore | 11:51 PM (0) comments Monday, August 09, 2004 Top Ten Search Terms for Radio Free MikeWith pertinent links: 10. Too Much of Nothing 9. Underground Grammarian 8. Michael Scott Moore 7. aye aye 6. Ring of the Nibelungen 5. Laura Medina 4. Denis Johnson 3. The Ring of the Nibelungen 2. saint joan 1. jackalope! posted by Michael Scott Moore | 3:18 AM (0) comments Thursday, August 05, 2004 $6 or $60?This column by Tom Friedman got a lot of attention exactly two years ago. Now that uncertain terrorist threats have not just made the Bush administration look tough but also helped to spike the price of oil, it's worth revisiting Friedman's exact words:...One thing I haven't seen much planning for is the impact an attack on Iraq would have on the world's oil market. Depending on how the war went, that impact could be very bad and lead to a sharp spike in oil prices, like $60-a-barrel oil. But — wait a minute — it could also be very good, and lead to $6-a-barrel oil that would weaken OPEC and, maybe, also weaken the Arab autocrats who depend on high oil prices to finance their illegitimate regimes and buy off opponents. Yeah, maybe. But why would any oil family -- in the Middle East or the U.S. -- want to contemplate a $6 barrel of oil? posted by Michael Scott Moore | 9:53 PM (0) comments Sunday, August 01, 2004 Wife on Motorcycle
A companion piece, only darker. Recent blogging on Indonesia starts down here. Let me know if the longer blog format is gumming up anyone's connection. posted by Michael Scott Moore | 8:01 PM (0) comments curious. worrisome.Brian at my.bicycle wonders what the big deal is with certain Justice Department pamphlets that were sent out to libraries but then ordered destroyed, in a panicky bureaucratic fit:The federal Government Printing Office has ordered libraries across the country to destroy five US Department of Justice pamphlets that provide how-to instructions on prosecuting asset forfeiture cases, invoking a rarely-used authority to order the removal of items the government routinely sends to hundreds of libraries. The Boston Globe ran this story partly because the Boston Public Library's president, Bernard Margolis, is resisting the order. Margolis said the pamphlets will remain available at the Boston Public Library while he prepares a challenge to the directive. At Radio Free Mike we're wondering if Boston-area spies shouldn't publish a taste of these pamphlets on a blog? posted by Michael Scott Moore | 6:41 PM (0) comments | |
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