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3. april 2005
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Organisers of Erotica Manchester are disappointed in the lack of interest among northern English men.
Organizers said their research shows northern women wanted to attend the three-day adult show but were "under the thumb of their other halves."
"We thought Manchester was an open minded city but maybe we were wrong," a spokesman for the event told Reuters. "People flock to our show in London but it seems that up here, the traditional northern male still calls the shots."
Strong parting insults there.
11:26:11 PM 
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Claudia Rosett, who has been instrumental in exposing UNSCAM, is decidedly unimpressed with the second interim Volcker report, but even less so with Kofi Annan's "hell, no" press conference and the positive press spin generated by the report.
Now, in his rush to exonerate himself, the secretary general seems to have forgotten that Oil-for-Food was a vast endeavor, running from 1996 to 2003, in which the United Nations, in the name of providing for the sanctions-squeezed people of Iraq, oversaw more than $110 billion worth of Saddam Hussein's oil sales and relief purchases, much of that riddled with billions in graft. All but the first month of this exercise was administered and--in the words of one of Annan's spokesman--"audited to death" by Annan's Secretariat. It was Annan who personally signed off on Saddam's shopping lists, and repeatedly urged the Security Council not only to continue the program, but to expand it in size and scope, which allowed Saddam to rake in yet more illicit billions from oil smuggling.
If Annan has indeed lost sight of his own oversight role, it would hardly be the only such lapse turned up in this inquiry. What emerges from the jumbled narrative of the Volcker interim report is a U.N. universe of forgetful officials, botched record-keeping, cronyism, and conflicts of interest so abundant they start to sound simply routine--which they apparently were. Most noteworthy is the volume of damning information whitewashed by bland wording, culminating in Volcker's judgment that in some respects Annan's performance was "inadequate." By such standards, the Titanic was "non-buoyant."
She also digs through the report's vague statements and tons of paper shreds, showing how deeply corrupt the UN system was, and is, and how Kofi Annan and his son Kojo fits right into that.
Via Spartacus.
PS: Roger L. Simon, of course, has more.
7:30:25 PM
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The Iraqi parliament has taken an important step towards a solution:
Iraqi lawmakers elected a Sunni Arab as parliament speaker and Shiite and Kurdish leaders as his deputies on Sunday, ending days of deadlock and clearing the way for the formation of a new government two months after the country's historic elections.
The selection of Industry Minister Hajim al-Hassani as parliament speaker was a step toward repairing the tattered image of the newly elected National Assembly, which had bickered for days over the post. A session Tuesday disintegrated into shouts and accusations. [...]
Hussain al-Shahristani -- a Shiite and former nuclear scientist -- and the Kurdish leader Aref Taifour were elected as al-Hassani's deputies.
People are of course impatient, but sooner or later they get used to this bickering and maneuvering being a part of the democratic process. It's certainly better than bombs and guns. And while it's easy to tell the elected to just agree about something, it is actually important to get it right.
6:18:38 PM
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A nut has apparantly gone crazy in a church in Stuttgart in Germany, killing one and injuring several.
Police said they found "grisly" scenes after the afternoon attack in the southern city of Stuttgart.
"Severed limbs were lying all round the church," a police spokeswoman said, adding that one man was arrested.
Crazy.
5:36:24 PM
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I've just spent most of Saturday night at the one real rock place in Bergen, Inside, and was delighted to see Michele put up some good music links.
4:12:14 AM
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© Copyright 2005 Jan Haugland.
Last update: 01.05.2005; 01:54:47.
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