Masala in the evening
Well, we'll go for variety tonight.....
Topping the news off, The British army staged a breakout for two soldiers in Basra who had been arrested by local Iraqi police after negotiations for their release broke down. Actually, some sources say the release came about as a result of negotiations. But few negotiations involve tanks (or more likely judging from the picture I saw Armoured Personnel Carriers) knocking down the wall of the jail. It seems the two men were working undercover and managed to tick off the locals. Considering that in the days of the Empire the UK was know to go to war over similar events, things were relatively calm. No one it seems is quite sure, (or at least no one is, as of yet, talking) about how the soldiers ended up in jail.
BBC Breakout!
IN further news from the British army, a Private from Grenada, was awarded the first Victoria’s Cross to be given out in more than 20 years. Congrats to him
Victoria Cross
The Afghan parliamentary elections took place with a fairly low turn out of voters. (around 50% which puts them up with the US) Observers feel that the sheer number of candidates may have confused and intimidated a lot of the voters. Putting a list of 5,800 candidates (including provincial offices) in front of an illiterate man (or woman) and telling him to choose the best ones could have that effect. Ed in Afghanistan EdblogsAfghanistan talks about this in his Politics and Development post. It is interesting how he in Afghanistan paints a pretty optimistic picture but some of the press point out nothing but the down sides. How typical.
Speaking of that trend, I am reminded of one of our fellow bloggers. Polanco Consulting in the comments section of a recent post (200 billion) included this statement
“Can you really trust the testimonials of people who are struggling to believe they're doing something worthwhile so as not to face the true reality of war? Maybe some of the troops believe the propaganda, and the others are just not well informed.” So PC has unilaterally decided to disregard any opinions from those in Iraq that disagree with what she has decided is right. That is one way to handle the issue I suppose. Personally, I have found that closing my eyes and ignoring people rarely makes things better. Especially when the people in question have a better grasp of what is going on than I do.
Note: PC and I disagree on a lot of stuff. We seem to agree on some too. (the need for educational reform for instance) She makes an interesting read and her comments section has great debates. I am jealous.
The Mayor of New Orleans has woken up and smelled the coffee. He is calling off the announced return of 100,000 plus citizens of the city. He is even calling for (another, what is this, the third?) “mandatory” evacuation of the city. Not because there is no running water or a secure power grid but because there is a new hurricane forming up down off Florida. It would really suck if that thing were to roll over New Orleans. (of course that could settle the rebuild question too)
Speaking of other bloggers, the Zombieslayer did a great post on Race and Class. The debate has been furious. I am jealous again. It doesn’t help that I was thinking of a very similar post that I will postpone for awhile now. Race issues being what they are, the situation will soon rise again. (sort of like a zombie…. Hey ZS! Take care of this damn thing will you!?!)
Enough for tonight! Have a good evening.
Topping the news off, The British army staged a breakout for two soldiers in Basra who had been arrested by local Iraqi police after negotiations for their release broke down. Actually, some sources say the release came about as a result of negotiations. But few negotiations involve tanks (or more likely judging from the picture I saw Armoured Personnel Carriers) knocking down the wall of the jail. It seems the two men were working undercover and managed to tick off the locals. Considering that in the days of the Empire the UK was know to go to war over similar events, things were relatively calm. No one it seems is quite sure, (or at least no one is, as of yet, talking) about how the soldiers ended up in jail.
BBC Breakout!
IN further news from the British army, a Private from Grenada, was awarded the first Victoria’s Cross to be given out in more than 20 years. Congrats to him
Victoria Cross
The Afghan parliamentary elections took place with a fairly low turn out of voters. (around 50% which puts them up with the US) Observers feel that the sheer number of candidates may have confused and intimidated a lot of the voters. Putting a list of 5,800 candidates (including provincial offices) in front of an illiterate man (or woman) and telling him to choose the best ones could have that effect. Ed in Afghanistan EdblogsAfghanistan talks about this in his Politics and Development post. It is interesting how he in Afghanistan paints a pretty optimistic picture but some of the press point out nothing but the down sides. How typical.
Speaking of that trend, I am reminded of one of our fellow bloggers. Polanco Consulting in the comments section of a recent post (200 billion) included this statement
“Can you really trust the testimonials of people who are struggling to believe they're doing something worthwhile so as not to face the true reality of war? Maybe some of the troops believe the propaganda, and the others are just not well informed.” So PC has unilaterally decided to disregard any opinions from those in Iraq that disagree with what she has decided is right. That is one way to handle the issue I suppose. Personally, I have found that closing my eyes and ignoring people rarely makes things better. Especially when the people in question have a better grasp of what is going on than I do.
Note: PC and I disagree on a lot of stuff. We seem to agree on some too. (the need for educational reform for instance) She makes an interesting read and her comments section has great debates. I am jealous.
The Mayor of New Orleans has woken up and smelled the coffee. He is calling off the announced return of 100,000 plus citizens of the city. He is even calling for (another, what is this, the third?) “mandatory” evacuation of the city. Not because there is no running water or a secure power grid but because there is a new hurricane forming up down off Florida. It would really suck if that thing were to roll over New Orleans. (of course that could settle the rebuild question too)
Speaking of other bloggers, the Zombieslayer did a great post on Race and Class. The debate has been furious. I am jealous again. It doesn’t help that I was thinking of a very similar post that I will postpone for awhile now. Race issues being what they are, the situation will soon rise again. (sort of like a zombie…. Hey ZS! Take care of this damn thing will you!?!)
Enough for tonight! Have a good evening.
posted by exMI | 21:06
5 Comments:
All right. I'm waiting. Looking forward to your post, after giving me a teaser on my blog.
Thanks for the shout out.
As for the Victoriann Cross, wow, first living recipient to win it since 1969. I need to buy that guy a beer. :)
"Personally, I have found that closing my eyes and ignoring people rarely makes things better." Rarely, but sometimes it does make things easier.
Closing your eyes is a great short term solution. Unfortunately, it doesn't do much for the long term.
I just noticed your blog entry now and I am so fascinated by the style you organize your posts! Which methods do you mostly apply in order to inform your readers about the fact that you have published a blog post to this blog?
Sadly I pretty much do nothing now. If I post, which I haven't done regularly in awhile, I just trust that perhaps someone will come across it.
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