World of Opinion
On blondes: The promise of modern communications – fiber optics, wireless, the Internet – was always the instantaneous delivery of huge quantities of information, and it has made good on that promise.
Which brings us the story of a World Health Organization study asserting that blondes will become extinct within 200 years because blondness is carried by a recessive gene.
The story swept through the British press and rocketed across the Atlantic where it appeared on the ABC and CBS morning shows and CNN.
And it was indeed a great, offbeat story with the teensy drawback that it wasn’t true. WHO, an earnest U.N. agency that normally couldn’t even buy the public’s attention, said there was no such study.
Which brings us back to the promise of modern communications. No one ever promised that the information would be accurate.
On failure to pass budget:
Worries about new terrorist attacks. A possible war with Iraq. The stock market falling. And, oh yeah, the U.S. government’s fiscal year starts today, and guess how many of the bills that keep federal agencies running have been passed?
None.
President Bush, in a not-unheard-of move, signed legislation Monday that allows the federal government to keep working despite the fact that 13 budget bills aren’t complete, much less in any stage of being passed. …
We say it’s ridiculous that, once again, we are in a new fiscal year without a new budget.
What would happen if the rest of us ran our comparably infinitesimal household finances with the same kind of procrastination and irresponsibility?
We hope Democrats and Republicans learned what happened last time a budget impasse led to government shutdowns.
Our lawmakers need to do their jobs, not worry about how they are going to keep them.
On Britain-Iraq:
Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair was supported at the Labor Party Conference, as he was earlier in Parliament, for his backing of the idea that military efforts against Iraq may be necessary if the U.N. is to be able to uphold the respect for its resolutions when it comes to disarming the regime that is a threat against its own people and the neighboring countries. For very good reasons, Blair was given a free hand to continue with the process to unite the U.N. Security Council on an action plan; to give up in advance would only favor Sadism Hussein’s efforts to build up weapons of mass destruction again and make the U.N weapons inspections meaningless.
On Russia’s policy on Iraq, U.S.:
Last year the “two Ivanovs” seemed to quarrel incessantly. The first one, Igor, Russia’s Foreign Minister, expressed solidarity with United States policy against international terrorism. The second, Defense Minister Sergei, was more prudent, moving to exclude Russian support for America’s attack on Kabul.
But now, the two Ivanovs work in harmony and both advocate Russian opposition of an attack by the United States on Iraq. However, they, like Russian President Vladimir Putin, consider that the alliance with America, following the Sept. 11 attacks – has benefited Russia by eliminating the menace posed by Afghanistan.
Russia’s army is being restructured to become a modern professional military force. For this reason Igor Ivanov has convinced his colleagues of Russia’s need to play an important role in international politics. Putin will have to impose his views on the United States to ensure that he is not left with a military and diplomatic establishment unnecessarily reinforced, and thus potentially destabilizing.
On International Criminal Court:
When the court is established it will be an important strengthening of the idea of universal human rights. With a remit to try crimes against humanity, it will hear the kind of cases that, from the Nazis at Nuremberg to Milosevic at The Hague, have until now been heard by one-off tribunals.
One of the obvious suspects who should end up in the dock of the new court is Saddam Hussein, on charges of using chemical and biological weapons and waging war on the Kurdish minority in Iraq. The U.S. knows that the court’s powers would not be used against its private citizens or soldiers. Its purpose is to prosecute the orchestrators of genocide or serious war crimes.
… The idea of making special concessions to one nation simply because it is so powerful is odious. Earlier this summer, the U.S. threatened to pull out of peacekeeping duties in Bosnia unless exemptions were agreed within days. They are still there. If the U.S. eventually comes round to joining the International Criminal Court – just as it rejoined UNESCO this month – it will not be because the EU made some craven concessions today.
On Africa and AIDS:
Small report, big implications. That’s our reaction to an item in the paper last week, which quoted an authoritative American organization as saying that our population is set to decline by 25 percent between now and 2050.
If that were because South Africa was taking note of resources and sustainable development, and had found a sensible answer to curbing population growth, good and well. But the reality is that according to the Population Reference Bureau’s data sheet about 5 million of our citizens are living with HIV/AIDS. This is then related to the fact that South Africa is one of only three countries in Africa in which more people are dying than being born.
Even allowing for these figures being overstated, we believe the bureau has provided more than enough food for thought (a drop from 44 million people to 32.5 million). But will it lead to a more convincing approach from our government and health authorities?