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The Bee Destroys Everything!
Dec. 9th, 2006 05:15 amThe head of NASA admits that the emphasis on low-orbit missions was a mistake.
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I wish we had Blair. I can't see Bush actually facing the problem like this:
"The reason we are having this debate is not generalised extremism. It is a new and virulent form of ideology associated with a minority of our Muslim community.
It is not a problem with Britons of Hindu, Afro-Caribbean, Chinese or Polish origin."
Here, we still have to pretend that anyone could be a terrorist, and we can't find any common factor among them.
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Sadly, the recent outbreak of honesty hasn't reached the House 'Ethics' Committee.
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The Japs have found a way to make vanilla from cow dung :P
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People are stealing the manhole covers in Cardiff.
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I remember back in '74 or so, watching the Turkish invasion of Cyprus on the news. I never for a second dreamed that it would still be a major news story in 2006.
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I can't see Turkish membership in the EU as being especially good for either party. Turkey's simply not a European country to begin with, regardless of where it's physically located. Changing Turkey enough to make it acceptable to the EU means (among other things) lessening the control of the Army over society. I can't see that ending well.
The Army is the most reliably pro-western faction in Turkish society. Removing Army control to make the place conform outwardly to European standards of democracy will, I think, only open opportunities for Islamist factions. The drive to rebuild the Turkish government to outwardly conform to western practices is based on the same logic that led to elections in Iraq and the Palestinian territories. I can't help but think it would end much the same way. I can't imagine why the UE thknks they'll succeed where Ataturk failed.
The Turks, for their part, seem to perceive 'joining the EU' as meaning that the EU is going to change and meet them somewhere in the middle. That seems to be the line that they're selling their people, is that their bizarre offer to open one port to Cyprus somehow puts the EU on the defensive.
*****
I wish we had Blair. I can't see Bush actually facing the problem like this:
"The reason we are having this debate is not generalised extremism. It is a new and virulent form of ideology associated with a minority of our Muslim community.
It is not a problem with Britons of Hindu, Afro-Caribbean, Chinese or Polish origin."
Here, we still have to pretend that anyone could be a terrorist, and we can't find any common factor among them.
*****
Sadly, the recent outbreak of honesty hasn't reached the House 'Ethics' Committee.
*****
The Japs have found a way to make vanilla from cow dung :P
*****
People are stealing the manhole covers in Cardiff.
*****
I remember back in '74 or so, watching the Turkish invasion of Cyprus on the news. I never for a second dreamed that it would still be a major news story in 2006.
*****
I can't see Turkish membership in the EU as being especially good for either party. Turkey's simply not a European country to begin with, regardless of where it's physically located. Changing Turkey enough to make it acceptable to the EU means (among other things) lessening the control of the Army over society. I can't see that ending well.
The Army is the most reliably pro-western faction in Turkish society. Removing Army control to make the place conform outwardly to European standards of democracy will, I think, only open opportunities for Islamist factions. The drive to rebuild the Turkish government to outwardly conform to western practices is based on the same logic that led to elections in Iraq and the Palestinian territories. I can't help but think it would end much the same way. I can't imagine why the UE thknks they'll succeed where Ataturk failed.
The Turks, for their part, seem to perceive 'joining the EU' as meaning that the EU is going to change and meet them somewhere in the middle. That seems to be the line that they're selling their people, is that their bizarre offer to open one port to Cyprus somehow puts the EU on the defensive.
