Posts (page 2)
Now that Blair is expected to step down around the end of June, questions about his legacy already floating around the political climate for months will now have ro be taken seriously and analyzed. I don't expect him to be fully understood or fairly evaluated as a leader until much further down the road, but that's just the nature of politics. Americans, in general, do not understand Blair, his political character, or his governmental system. Casual conservatives love the man for his support of Bush and the war, but they know of little else he stands for, and they certainly wouldn't vote Labour if they lived in Britain. Liberals despise him for the same reason conservatives love him, but I fall in line with neither side. I admire his (and Gordon Brown's) anti-poverty work and internationalist policies. Obviously I would have opposed his decision to go to war, but there was little debate in Britain at the time, at least between the two major parties, and his decision would have hardly been unique to other politicians'. It's sad that he has to leave office with such a cloud hanging over his head, but in time I believe history will view him as the largely positive leader that he was. Taken from this article, from realclearpolitics.com, as always:
"When anger fades and regret settles in, historians will judge the Iraq war a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions. Blair is not the first leader to disregard the complicated political history of the Middle East, but Britons expected better of this deeply intelligent man. Despite all the evidence of perfidy, he seems to have had a noble purpose, but that makes his failure all the more tragic. He believed that Britain, because of its historical status, was duty bound to intervene and that it was uniquely placed to act as a moderating influence on President Bush. Mr. Bush, however, was immune to moderation. British statecraft was crushed by American adventurism."
The article sums up with this:
"In years to come, historians will argue whether Blair was an architect of destiny or a floater on the tide of circumstance. History students will assess his credentials as a great man. No one, however, will doubt his status as a harbinger of an age when ideology is nothing and power everything."
Now, of course, Gordon Brown finally gets his shot as prime minister. I for one like his grumpy demeanor, among other things. But he has a lot to live up to, a party to fix, and a lot of supporters who are counting on him to keep Labour from disappearing into 1980's limbo status. I have a feeling he'll pull it off.
...for being misdiagnosed with a fatal illness and subsequently going broke living life to the fullest? I'm actually torn between saying yes or no one way or the other. I suppose it depends on whether the initial diagnosis could have been corrected and if it was a result of incompetance on the part of hospital staff. If that is indeed the case, then I'd tell the guy to go for it. Not an extravagant amount, but enough to keep things together until he can get back on his feet.
In any case, what an ordeal to go through. I cannot imagine what it must feel like to accept your impending death only to find out your supposed disease was barely a blip on the radar. My compensation would have to include funds for the massive amount of therapy I'd need for the rest of my life. Sheesh.
What's that secret dream job you've always believed you'd be good at, but never gone for?
Submitted by wedgeh.
Huge movie/TV/music star. Mostly music star. Will never happen. Ever. Which is why I've settled for something having to do with politics. At least maybe then, if I rise to political prominence, I might be able to host Saturday Night Live or something.
When was the last time you interacted with any sort of wildlife?
Submitted by warpedreality.
A week or so ago, when I faced off with a Giant Flying Cockroach in my kitchen. And won.
And no, I don't think it's a stretch to refer to the bug as wildlife. Trust me. It was of no species I've ever encountered before. It took me hours to kill it. Hours. It was immune to he effects of Clorox. Suffice to say, I did not handle the crisis well.
Besides that, I've always wanted to interact with wildlife, but I've never really been able to. For example, I wanted a Bill Bird-in-Hand for a long time. What is a Bill-Bird-in-Hand, you ask? It's a cardboard cutout of a guy with an outstretched hand that you put out in your yard so birds can get used to eating off of a human - or humanish, considering it's cardboard - hand. Eventually you replace Bill with yourself, and suddenly you're a human bird feeder.
I never got a Bill-Bird-in-Hand.
It would be pointless of me to express outrage over this, because I would hope that it's obvious that selling guns to suspected terrorists is not a good idea. Now, I fully understand that most terrorists are not going to go through legal channels to obtain weapons, but that is beside the point. The NRA has never held much credibility with me, but this merely puts them in the category of irrelevant at best and dangerous at worst. The best part is, it's coming from the so called pro-defense, anti-terror far right. Talk about your hypocrites.
I wonder: copout or mere statement of fact? I suspect that Senator Durbin is trying to have it both ways with regard to pre-war intelligence, but I highly doubt he actually knew it was faulty at the time. If he knew that it was, and that the United States was about to go to war based on bad information, then for him to sit by and let it happen without a word is quite inexcusable, sworn to secrecy or no.
I also wonder why we're still talking about this when we should be trying to figure out how to get out of the Iraq mess in one piece.
What are the positive and negative associations that you and those around you have with blogging? Have attitudes changed over time?
Well, all I know is that blogging has definately reinforced my image as a "dork", as if that image needed any reinforcing. But mostly, and sadly, I've had to explain to most people what a blog is. So the attitudes are generally neutral and/or confused. But I personally think bloggers will save the world someday. I'm very happy to occupy my little corner of the blogosphere, and I hope my crap computer will allow me to do so for quite awhile.
Not my usual thing to blog about, but I can't resist. Truthfully, I'd rather have Hugh Grant lob baked beans at me than watch just about every movie he's ever starred in.
I really do. Is it the computer's fault that it got hit with some worm Sunday and shut down, leaving me panicked and HIGHLY unhappy for 5 too many days? No, but I still hate it. It just isn't enough that I work off of a crap, lightless monitor - nooo, hows about we add freshly data-free and back to square one? I've only had this thing since December - is that relatively soon for all of this crap that keeps happpening? I don't know because I can't compare it to past experience, since this is my first computer. There's my Qotd - what's your general timeframe for a computer going belly up?
OK, OK, so it didn't exactly "go belly up" - at least I was able to reinstall Windows and get this thing working again. And, my mood was instantly lightened - nay, transformed into utter ecstaticness (is that a word?) - by the discovery that a story I wrote for a 24 fanfiction challenge...OMG....WON.
*jumps up & down*
Oh my God I won something! And for something I wrote!! *squeals*
What did I win, exactly? Well, not much, besides the praise of fellow Jack/Chloe fanfiction writers, but each winner got a banner made to look like their story. This is mine:
It has my name on it and everything! Whee!
(For those of you who haven't figured as much, fanfiction is the act of ripping off whatever you're a fan of and doing it your own way. For me, it's taking the show 24 and writing stories pairing Jack Bauer with Chloe or with...um...well, another character. If you really want to know, I'll tell you, but you probably don't. Especially if you don't watch the show, in which case you care nothing of what I'm currently babbling about.)
Anyway, one look at that banner and the accompanying title of "Best Plot", and suddenly, I heart my computer.
I'm way behind on the news and my neighboorhood, but I shall remedy that soon. "Soon" being tomorrow, since it's about 8 AM and I need to go to sleep.
Happy day to all. :)
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