posted
I can't help you with the UN and Timor one, but it sounds really familiar now I am reading this book. The book is about three people in their twenties who go to work for the UN as peace keepers. They meet in Cambodia where one is a Dr, one a UN secretary and another a lawyer,; the last two are overseeing the elections, and then they spread out to other troubled places. Each writes their experiences at each place in turn, in short bites. It sounds disocconnected, but it isn't. They have a coherent voice in that all care deeply and are either all cracking writers or were helped in writing it. You get a cumulative picture of each place and the role - with a very clear picture of the limitations of it - that the UN takes. It's about the 90s but boy is is it ever relavant now! Nothing much appears to have changed.
I also like that the personal 'voices' of the three comes across; there is a very real sense of them as they strive to survive amidst such mind-numbing horror, all the while conscious that what they suffer is so much less than the suffering of the peoples on whose behalf they are there to witness.
You can tell I like it, eh?
ETA Damn! That last sentence was tortured!
[ 08.12.2006, 06:14: Message edited by: sam ]
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posted
vickram I don't know much about you except you used to travel a lot. Are there links with your life travelling and the books you are talking about here? Just curious about why you know so much about the UN and that sort of thing and wonder if you were ever involved.
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the dallaire book is superb, though hardly festive reading. he knew what was happening but was prevented from intervening by an international community still smarting from mogadishu. he was personally devastated about what happened, or rather what didn't, and tried to kill himself a few years later. i saw an interview with him once, some time ago, and he was a doped up jittery wreck Posts: 5190
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quote:Originally posted by vikram: he was personally devastated about what happened, or rather what didn't, and tried to kill himself a few years later. i saw an interview with him once, some time ago, and he was a doped up jittery wreck
One of the things I picked up from the Emergency Sex book was the effect on the people watching it all, helpless to affect anything in real terms. I know I simply couldn't do it.
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quote:Originally posted by sam: ralph, how does that work in America? It seems conmpletely alien to me that a whole town can impeach a leader. How does that sort of thing come about?
quote: Impeachment is the legal statement of charges. It is NOT the involuntary removal of the President from office. Impeachment, as defined by the American Bar Association, is a process, authorized by the Constitution to bring charges against certain officials of the federal government for misconduct while in office.
The House of Representatives has the power of impeachment by bringing the charges against an official (President). After the President is impeached by the House, he is tried by the Senate. Conviction requires the vote of two-thirds of the Senate members who are present. With two-thirds vote, the President would THEN be removed from office.
Two Presidents have been impeached. Andrew Johnson in 1868, and Bill Clinton in 1999. Neither was removed from office because he did not get the two-thirds Senate vote needed. (In 1974, Richard Nixon avoided impeachment by resigning.)
Basically, my town took a vote whether or not to impeach Bush and Cheney. It was almost unanimous in favor of doing so. The record of that vote will be sent to our elected representative in the House of Representatives. What our rep does with it is up to him I suppose. But if enough House members received this request from the people, they could possibly have it put to a vote in the House. If it won in the House, then the President and Vice President would be tried by the Senate. Chance of this happening? Slim. But it has been done before.
ETA: Just so you don't think it's only my town that's doing this...
Other states, cities and towns have adopted the resolution:
State Legislatures (pending)
• Illinois State Legislature • California State Legislature • Vermont State Legislature • New Jersey State Legislature (drafted, not yet introduced)
Cities/Towns
• Arcata (CA) • Berkeley (CA) • Carson (CA) • Fairfax (CA) • Oakland (CA) (pending) • Santa Barbara (CA) (pending) • Santa Cruz (CA) • San Francisco (CA) • Sebastopol (CA) • Silver Lake (CA) (pending)
• Champaign (IL) • Chicago (IL) (pending) • Urbana (IL)
posted
To mislead the American public, surely Bush would have had to know that what he was saying was untrue. Seeing as he believed that Iraq was a genuine threat, or at least that Saddam had to be removed - and so did most of the American voting public, media and politicians (same in Britain) - it's hard to see how Bush alone can be blamed, 'buck stops here' or not.
We're all culpable, even those who were shouting "STOP!" nearly four years ago. None of us did enough, except moan about it on forums like this, and maybe wave a banner for a couple of hours.
All that Americans are doing by signing these impeachment forms is admitting that they were idiots themselves. It's the same here in the UK where we have the fucking Tories calling for an inquiry into why we invaded Iraq, as if they had nothing whatsoever to do with it themselves.
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quote:Originally posted by sam: so how come your town voted? I mean, who started the process off?
I'm not sure which town member got on on the warrant, but it's fairly easy to do. It could have been any number of people, as my town consists mostly of aging hippies and lesbians. Not exactly Republican material. For the record, I'm not registered as a Republican or a Democrat.
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quote:Originally posted by dang65: We're all culpable, even those who were shouting "STOP!" nearly four years ago. None of us did enough, except moan about it on forums like this, and maybe wave a banner for a couple of hours.
What else could I have done? I know I can't go back and do it now, but you know, for future reference.
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quote:Originally posted by ralph: I'm not registered as a Republican or a Democrat.
what does that actually mean? registered? does it mean you are a member of the democrat or republicna party or what?
If you're registered either Republican or Democrat, then you can vote in the primary elections for the party you belong to. The primary election determines which of the candidates running for that party get the nomination of that party to run in the general election.
quote:Originally posted by dang65: We're all culpable, even those who were shouting "STOP!" nearly four years ago. None of us did enough, except moan about it on forums like this, and maybe wave a banner for a couple of hours.
What else could I have done? I know I can't go back and do it now, but you know, for future reference.
What, you think I know?
Revolution would have been the only option, but one doesn't do that sort of thing in polite society, does one. I don't think impeaching the President is of any value now though. Maybe campaigning for far, far more stringent criteria for starting a war in future might help. This mess should put a stop to any new invasions for a few years anyway, but it doesn't take long to forget again. D'oh.
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quote:Originally posted by sam: Confusion. Why do you have to register as any party? Or is it just more common to join the parties you vote for over there?
You don't have to register to a particular party. I'm registered as an Independent, with no affiliation to any party. I'll have to look and see if I can find a party-by-party breakdown of what party the registered voters in the US are in.
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I thought if you registered "Independent" you were signing up for the Independent Party, and if you registered Unaffiliated you didn't have any party membership. Though some news reports tend to use "independent" as a catch-all for anyone who isn't registered as a Democrat or Republican, including Reform Party, Libertarian Party, Green Party, etc., etc.
I could be wrong though.
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I don't believe there's an Independent party. There's an Independence party and an Independent American party. I think I'm what you would call unaffiliated.
posted
watched the 1928 silent classic "Pandora's Box" last night. Enjoyed it - very sad and poignant. Louise Brooks is fit. Somebody else off the boards came with me and FELL ASLEEP.
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For about TWO SECONDS. And you wouldn't have known about the film if it wasn't for me. And you didn't know who Louise Brooks was till yesterday, you philistine. So I'M WINNER.
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Who recommended Will Self? I have always avoided him; too much of a blokey bloke I thought, but I am really enjoying his book. You lot recommend good books, that's 2 out of 2 so far I've liked.
My partner falls asleep during dvds. We've dozens he's never seen but swears he has. Bignuts sounds like a man he'd get on with. Is that good?
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quote:Originally posted by sam: Who recommended Will Self? I have always avoided him; too much of a blokey bloke I thought, but I am really enjoying his book.
A few people recommended Dr. Mukti and Other Tales of Woe if that's the one you're reading.
posted
I'm reading Dr Mukti, but I shall now buy How The Dead Live. I was aware quite early on that tmo had the ability to broaden my outlook in slightly disturbing ways but to find culture is a an unlooked for delight. My mother would approve.
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quote:Originally posted by sam: I'm reading Dr Mukti, but I shall now buy How The Dead Live. I was aware quite early on that tmo had the ability to broaden my outlook in slightly disturbing ways but to find culture is a an unlooked for delight. My mother would approve.
I find the way that you write quite hypnotic sam, but I'm not sure why. I think it's that you're very honest.
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Erm, isn't How the Dead Live utter shit?
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Louche
Carved TMO on her clit just to make you feel bad
posted
quote:Originally posted by jonesy999: Erm, isn't How the Dead Live utter shit?
It's the one I've never been able to read because the only decent line was 'cancer ripped through her like it was late for an important meeting with lots of other terminal diseases'. Oh, and the Book of Dave as well, but that's just because I don't dophonetic. Write. Fucking. Properly. You. Lamers.
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