Nice. Lynch should make more public service announcements. I'd love to see his ads for drugs, terror or maybe even a campaign ad.

YouTube - David Lynch's Public Service Announcement

Jello wrote:

SierraNightTide wrote:
As children, we live boldly, seldom afraid or embarrassed to seek out what we want or to speak our minds. As we grow older, we tend to fold our inquisitive and creative minds and place them into a secret drawer while we chase career opportunities. Most times, or at least for most people we leave the drawer untouched, afraid that it might obstruct us in our career success as we conform to society’s acceptance of living.

Are you kidding? As a child I was terrified to be different. As an adult I came into my weirdness.

my bouts of psychosis have taught me the value of being normal (something often much underrated [people scoff and laugh at "the straight world" without understanding that they're often the median and core of our civilisation and usually they're honest, decent and tolerant]). I have also learnt that if i want to be tolerated i must tolerate in return.
Although it has to be said that different cultures have different attitudes towards conformity. I am lucky enough to be English and in my culture the eccentric is often valued.

RE: The Difficulty of Being Different

For those readers who ask me what they can do to help fight poverty, one option is to sit down at your computer and become a microfinancier.

That’s what I did recently. From my laptop in New York, I lent $25 each to the owner of a TV repair shop in Afghanistan, a baker in Afghanistan, and a single mother running a clothing shop in the Dominican Republic. I did this through www.kiva.org, a Web site that provides information about entrepreneurs in poor countries — their photos, loan proposals and credit history — and allows people to make direct loans to them.

You, Too, Can Be a Banker to the Poor - New York Times

For many years, the term Central Europe was missing from the American vocabulary. A simple expression was used instead: the Soviet bloc.

A State of the Central European Nations address from Poland

Waiting for freedom, messing it up - International Herald Tribune

The Kremlin is taking action to expand its control over the media — the Internet in particular — as Russia heads toward parliamentary elections this December and presidential elections in the spring of 2008.

the tale of the boiling frog episode xxiii

'Super agency' threatens Russian freedom - International Herald Tribune

Last week, the greatest sporting event of the year in terms of audience began in Jamaica, when the West Indies beat Pakistan in the inaugural match of the 2007 Cricket World Cup

a lovely piece about cricket from a a departing under secretary general of the United Nations
i've been known to enjoy a game although in terms of watching sport football (aka soccer to u Americans) is my first love however watching cricket is something u sink into and luxuriate in like a warm bath

Meanwhile: Don't worry, we'll still enjoy our cricket - International Herald Tribune

Why are we Westerners in Afghanistan?
...
The objective now is to wrest rural areas from Taliban forces.

But many of the people we are fighting have no fixed political manifesto. Almost none have links to Al Qaeda or an interest in attacking U.S. soil. We will never have the troop numbers to hold these areas, and we are creating unnecessary enemies. A more considered approach to tribal communities would give us better intelligence on our real enemies. It is clear that we do not have the resources, the stomach, or the long- term commitment for a 20-year counterinsurgency campaign. And the Afghan Army is not going to take over this mission.
...
Sometimes it is better for us to do less. Dutch forces in the province of Uruzgan have found that, when left alone, the Taliban alienate communities by living parasitically, lecturing puritanically and failing to deliver. But when the British tried to aggressively dominate the South last summer, they alienated a dangerous proportion of the local population and had to withdraw. Pacifying the tribal areas is a task for Afghans, working with Pakistan and Iran. It will involve moving from the overcentralized state and developing formal but flexible relationships with councils in all their varied village forms

mmmmhhhh
at the moment we're likely to lose
it's partly a military conflict but it's also about hearts and minds

When less is best - International Herald Tribune

Some animals are surprisingly sensitive to the plight of others. Chimpanzees, who cannot swim, have drowned in zoo moats trying to save others. Given the chance to get food by pulling a chain that would also deliver an electric shock to a companion, rhesus monkeys will starve themselves for several days.

Scientist Finds the Beginnings of Morality in Primate Behavior - New York Times

To understand how much the Iraq war has transformed the way most Americans think about foreign policy, consider what passed for shrewd analysis four years ago.

The words on the "in" list included "unilateral," "bold," "robust," "transformative" and "sole remaining superpower." The words on the "out" list included "multilateral," "nuance," "patience," "diplomacy," "allies," "history" and "prudence."

Today, the "in" and "out" lists would be almost exactly reversed. The new "out" list includes such additions as "reckless," "arrogant" and "incompetent."
...
None of this means that American opinion has become isolationist. The country's determination to defeat terrorism has not slackened. Most Americans still believe the war in Afghanistan was a proper response to the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and wonder why it was left unfinished so the ideologues could go off in pursuit of Utopia on the Euphrates. The men and women who wear the nation's uniform have never been so popular.

But those who spent the past four years hyping threats, underestimating costs, ignoring rational warnings, painting unrealistic futures and savaging their opponents have been discredited. This awakening is the first step toward rebuilding our country's influence and power.

E. J. Dionne Jr. - Morning in America - washingtonpost.com

You do not have to look very hard these days to see the grave damage the Bush administration's mismanagement of the Iraq conflict has inflicted on the U.S. Army

Repairing the damage to the U.S. military - International Herald Tribune