Bunker Mulligan "Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry." ~Mark Twain

Kofi Annan is still mad that his sugar daddy is gone.

Annan also dismissed any suggestion that France, Russia and China had been prepared to ease sanctions on Saddam Hussein

MEMRI: Latest News has this on the boss hog in Syria:

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad: ‘Do Western Countries Want to Fling the Entire Region Into the Volcano? Haven’t We Learned From 9/11, From the War in Iraq?… When a Volcano Erupts, its Core Strikes Countries Near and Far, Great and Small, Powerful and Weak’

Now I’m absolutely certain we are achieving great success in Iraq. Who do you think the countries near, small, and weak that he is concerned about might be?

Kevin Sites managed to score an interview with Iraq Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. He asks the tough questions, and gets some good, and some politic, answers.

Four years ago today, 17 sailors on the USS Cole were killed and the ship heavily damaged.

It was considered a crime, and warrants were issued. Two men have since been convicted for their involvement. Nothing to be too concerned about. After all, the only deaths were military men.

A year later, the US was attacked directly. 3000 civilians died, and Americans finally grasped the profundity of the threat.

As Senator Kerry says, we need to get back to that time.

Good News from Iraq from Arthur Chrenkoff was a tough one this week:

The picture painted by the news stories was bleak: another suicide attack, a shoot-out with armed militants, soldiers dying in an ambush, a man accused of collaborating with the hated occupiers executed by parties unknown, property destruction causing resentment among the locals, hostile noises from the neighbors, another condemnation from international community, and at home political instability and accusations of corruption at the highest level. There was hardly anything about economy and enterprise, nothing about culture and civil society, barely a glimpse of any positive development or an indication that something, somewhere might be going right.

After about ten minutes I gave up trying to find some good news from Israel.

A bit of perspective never hurts. And this is just one of the blogs belonging to this week’s review at Homespun Bloggers.

Kenyan ecologist Wangari Maathai has won the Nobel Peace Prize this year. I’ve not seen any real explanation for her award, but this probably has much to do with it:

“She said (HIV/AIDS) was invented as a bio-weapon in some laboratory in the West,” a senior State Department official said.

The West is evil, and the root of everything bad in the world.

Slatts has this to say:

…this is a victory for common sense, decency, defined values and optimism. It is a shellacking for hate, envy, moral equivalence and appeasement with fascists.

Kev flies wing:

He needs to throw the “we wuz robbed” line into the dustbin with it’s equally sour grapes partner “the voters are stupid. Once again they have ignored our brilliance”

Congratulations to Mr Howard and his party. And to all those in Australia who rejected the same things we hope to reject here in three weeks.