Sunday 13 October 2002

The same UK Independent, in an editorial on 8th October dealing with George W Bush's Cincinatti speech, raises the spectre of a President 'deliberately setting the UN inspection bar so high as to make it unacceptable, and thus render war inevitable' and 'playing politics with war'. It is difficult to feel otherwise. 6:43:30 PM  Your view

I intended doing the usual posting of this story from the UK 'Independent' newspaper, but inadvertently opened the link and then deleted the News Aggregator original. The points made here by Robert Fisk under the title 'What the US President wants us to forget' are worthy of serious thought. Certainly, the conclusion ('American oil companies stand to gain billions of dollars in the event of a US invasion, [and], once out of power, Bush and his friends could become multi-billionaires on the spoils of this war'). It all suddenly makes sense, doesn't it? 6:29:47 PM  Your view

San Jose Mercury News - Taiwan rejects U.S. copyright demands.    Taiwan has turned down a U.S. demand on Friday to extend copyrights on works including earlier Walt Disney movies for another 20 years as negotiators on both sides held talks on intellectual property rights.    Taiwan told a delegation led by Joseph Papovich, assistant U.S. trade representative, that it would not extend copyright protection to 70 years from 50 years, a Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affairs official said.    The U.S. Supreme Court considered on Wednesday whether Robert Frost poems and Mickey Mouse movies made more than 75 years ago should become public property or remain in the hands of their owners for another 20 years. [Privacy Digest] The article mentions, of course, that Taiwan is seeking a Free Trade agreement with the US, so the US administration is using the issue of 'intellectual property rights' (what a neat little phrase to describe what is nothing more than long-term greed!) as a bargaining tool. Hopefully Taiwan will not be the only country to refuse to bow to this pressure. 3:06:34 PM  Your view

Bush Will Use Congress Vote to Press U.N.. President Bush moved on Friday to use a vote in Congress giving him overwhelming support to attack Iraq as leverage to push for a tough new United Nations resolution. By Elisabeth Bumiller and Carl Hulse. [New York Times: NYT HomePage] What is the connection between a vote taken in any member state's legislature and the deliberations of the UN Security Council? That anyone should think there is one is tacitly admitting that the UN is ineffectual. A quote from the article is significant, and apparently sums up US thinking and its disregard for the UN: "Right now we have accomplished what we had to do to take the action we need to take, and we don't need the Security Council," a senior administration official said. "So if the Security Council wants to stay relevant, then it has to give us similar authority."       The sheer arrogance of this statement is desperately worrying to anyone who cherishes the principles of the United Nations, and makes it abundantly clear that this US administration is determined to pursue its militaristic agenda at all costs. 2:47:34 PM  Your view

Formula 1 Grand Prix season comes to an end I'm a bit of a Grand prix addict, and I got up this morning to watch the final race of the 2002 season live from Suzuka in Japan. This meant being in front of the television at 6.30 am, but the outcome of the race made it all worth while. Being Irish, naturally I support the Jordan team. It hasn't been a great season for the team, and they were lying 8th going into the Japanese Grand Prix. Many blamed the Honda engine for the team's problems, while rookie driver Takuma Sato all too often showed his inexperience with a sorry list of costly mistakes in the previous races.       Saturday qualifying was marred by a really bad crash involving Toyota driver Alan McNish. There was a delay of almost an hour while the wreckage was removed and the barrier which he had demolished was repaired. Medical advice before the actual race dictated that McNish could not take part, so only 19 cars began. While Michael Schumacher got off to a great start and quickly established an unassailable lead, Sato miraculously withstood the challenge of the two Renault cars and grimly held on to his qualifying 7th place. Jordan lost ground on the first pit stop to Renault but got it back on the second. Sato drove like a man possessed, egged on by a wildly enthusiastic home crowd. While Honda engine after Honda engine blew up all round him and tension grew over the final ten laps in case he would suffer the same fate, he and the engine stayed the pace and retirements ahead of him meant he finished 5th, taking his first Grand Prix points and lifting Jordan from a lowly 8th place in the Constructors Championship to a much more respectable 6th.       Michael Schumacher won comfortably, with team-mate Rubens Barrichello second (the 9th time for a Ferrari one-two this year and yet another new record). Schumacher was already well represented in the Grand Prix record books, but this final victory added still further records to his personal tally: 64 lifetime wins, 11 wins in a single season, the first time ever for any driver to be on the winners podium after every race, a record-equalling 5th Drivers Championship -- the man is a motoring genius!       Meanwhile there are worries about falling television audiences for the sport, which is being attributed to the dominance of Ferrari. Grand Prix bosses are putting forward many suggestions to bring back the excitement and make races more competitive. It will be interesting to see what changes are introduced for 2003. One thing is certain, though: I will remain glued to the television screen for seventeen Sundays next year also. There is a special thrill attached to Formula 1, and I still felt the buzz of excitement even as things were this season. If it gets even better next year, so much the better. 2:17:33 PM  Your view

		© Copyright 2002 Jim MacCormaic . Last update: 09/11/2002; 03:29:45 am .