Friday, August 30, 2002
Of Balls And Bull Is this a hint of things to come? Probably yes. The last ten years have seen the complete transition of sport from social event to entertainment. Big sport started to mean big business, but many traditional sports have not realised that transforming loving fans into customers is not only about milking them dry. When a team represents something more than a business - a city, for instance - a tradition one wants to belong to, the fans will go the extra mile for cheering up their idols. When a team is just a business, then these ties die down and the fan becomes a client, with different expectation, different priorities and usually requiring a better service. Seeing billionare team owners and millionaire players squabble over pay and then try to present themselves as something more than paid clowns is an increasingly sorry spectacle. How long before the fans decide to switch channel and watch a movie? At least there the goods guys (as opposed to my team) always win.
Baseball strike and the end of sport as we know it
Baseball threatening a strike is just the last of a number of disrupting news on the worldwide sport front. In Italy the start of the football (soccer for those on the west side of the Atlantic pond) season, a rite akin to religion, is postponed at least two weeks - pending an agreement between teams and TV networks about TV rights. In UK, one ot the two main satellite/cable networks just folded because of unsustainable costs of (you guessed it?) screening football games. Many teams are facing serious financial troubles as a result.
posted by Mooraq at 3:10 PM
O Que Será Que Será Culture is well and good in my books, but if Lula really wants to make it this time round, he would do better to court Brazil's ever popular football Seleção...
Brazilian presidential candidate Lula gets the country's top artists to support his fourth run
Brazilian presidential candidate Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva must be given an award for perseverance. He ran thrice before, and lost spectacularly. For his fourth attempt, however, the former labour leader has enlisted help from Brazil's finest artists, including the extraordinary Chico Buarque.
posted by Carla Passino at 2:25 PM
Hijacking the Agenda On the other hand many holes in the security net have been closed and, on average, the efficiency of the terrorist apparatus sometimes seems closer to that of a Dr. Evil than of a Spectre. The only real weapon at those murderers' disposal is the fear they can create. As FDR put it, the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. That said, it's wise to keep the guard up and crack down on rogue states that can harbour these groups - but the best way to fight them is not to play by their rules and refuse to be afraid. When one gets in car, one does not start thinking about the awful statistics about car crashes, just about driving safely.
The threat of terrorism can be worse (or better) than we think
The arrest of a potential hijacker in Sweden raises fresh fears about new terrorist attacks. Despite the improved security measures in airports around the world, the risk of a hijacking remains high, at least statistically. It's clear that there are still many Al-Qaeda terrorists at large, and it will take a few years to significantly curb their numbers.
posted by Mooraq at 12:10 PM
Was It A Hijack Attempt? Police are now investigating a possible terrorist link for the attempt, fuelling fears of new terrorist strikes as the first anniversary of September 11 approaches. Scary.
A man is arrested in Sweden after police find a gun in his hand luggage
Swedish police have stopped a man who was trying to board an airplane to London with a handgun hidden in his bag. The Ryanair flight, which carried 189 passengers, was grounded and the suspect hijacker - a Swedish citizen of Tunisian origin - was arrested. He may be charged with trying to hijack the plane.
posted by Carla Passino at 9:20 AM
Thursday, August 29, 2002
Iain Duncan Smith Pledges Support for Hunting
Britain's Opposition leader says no to the proposed hunt ban
I apologise for the meagre posting today, but I was away at the Buckinghamshire County Show. My colleague Arabella Youens and I interviewed Britain's Opposition leader, Iain Duncan Smith, on what he thinks of the government's proposal to ban hunting with dogs (that's fox hunting, deer hunting and beagling). He is against the ban - and so am I.
posted by Carla Passino at 7:34 PM
What They Are Saying in Iraq The Iraq National Agency (via AlJazira.it, in Italian) is quick to point out German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's views that diplomacy is preferable to military intervention in the Middle East. To dispel fears of their country's political isolation, the agency trumpets each and every statement of support received by Iraq (including a Conference of Jordan Trade Unions, the Russian Centre for Co-operation with Iraq, and an unspecified convention of men of culture in Azerbaijan), as well as highlighting each and every meeting between Iraqi and foreign officials, such as the Prime Minister of Bulgaria, the President of China, the Foreign Minister of Qatar, and former American Minister Ramsey Clark. But there is nothing like stirring up some good, old anti-American feelings to warm up the home front. The Iraq National Agency reports that residents in Bassora - who are mourning the victims of a bombardment [allegedly] carried out by British and American forces on Sunday, August 25 - have pledged that they will resist the Anglo-American aggression.
The Iraqi propaganda warms up the home front
While George Bush and Dick Cheney try - without much success - to summon America and its reluctant allies to war, the Iraqi propaganda machine is preparing the ground at home.
posted by Carla Passino at 5:59 PM
Wednesday, August 28, 2002
Hit and Eat
Hungry Argentinians carve up a horse, which was killed in a traffic accident
Friends and relatives who have been to Argentina recently have all come back with horror stories of how hard times are down there since December's currency crisis, but this beats them all: a horse killed in a car accident was apparently butchered and eaten on the spot by starving residents of La Matanza (an ominous name, which means The Kill) on Sunday, August 25.
posted by Carla Passino at 6:32 PM
Oh Dear....
Even American Conservatives are losing faith in George W Bush
From US Conservative blog Global News Watch via Ken Layne: "I am growing increasingly apprehensive that [Bush] is no leader at all, but a bumbling idiot -- that he is, in fact, the man I refused to vote for."
posted by Carla Passino at 2:57 PM
You Can See Further from the High Ground While the debate rages on about how and when to topple Saddam, not enough time is devoted to analyse the bigger picture, I am afraid. Bush father, hopeless as he was at economics matters, was a cunning foreign policy buff. He understood the importance, political if not military, of building consensus among allies and obtaining neutrality from enemies while engaging in a war. This administration, on the contrary, seems guided more by guts than by brain - Machiavelli would definitely not approve. A strike at Saddam should be preceded by some good groundwork to reduce hostility to the US in the Arab world. For instance a renewed attempt at mediating the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, or a push for greater democracy and accountability in some of the US local allies could benefit more the freedom cause in the short and long term than buddying with Arabian princes in Texan ranches. The moral high ground is a vantage point for a war: the US should do more to seize it.
Topple Saddam? Yes, but don't be amateurish about that
Much discussion going on about invading Iraq, not the least between GOP ranks and within the administration itself. Dowd in the NYT adds an interesting twist to the debate, which I am not completely in agreement with. The case for eliminating a nasty dictatorships is always positive even if one cannot eliminate ALL dictators at the same time. Idealism has to be tempered by realism and the good general always chooses battles that can be won.
posted by Mooraq at 9:55 AM
Bin Laden Ready To Strike? Bin Laden may well be alive - Atwan's interview confirms American and German suspicions that he is hiding on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. But whether he is able to attack - and when - remains to be seen. Al Qaeda is known to manipulate friendly media to its own advantage. And Atwan is, by his own admission, in 'close contact' with the terrorist group. So how credible is he? And what's the true aim of his 'warning'?
The Saudi terrorist is said to be pulling together what remains of Al Qaeda to launch fresh attacks
After much speculation over his death, it turns out Osama bin Laden is alive and well - and back in the terror business. Or so says Abdel-Bari Atwan, editor of Islamic newspaper al-Quds al-Arabi, who told Reuters that bin Laden "will time any new attack to coincide with a U.S. attack on Iraq."
posted by Carla Passino at 9:42 AM
Tuesday, August 27, 2002
S'Ils N'Ont Pas De Pain, Qu'Ils Mangent De La Brioche
Champagne flows at the Johannesburg Summit
Delegates at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg are wolfing down lobsters and quaffing champagne. No doubt this is to improve their understanding of how to tackle famine in Southern Africa. (Link requires registration)
posted by Carla Passino at 10:14 AM
Berlusconi v Berlusconi But, no, Italians couldn't care less about Johannesburg. What is really dear to their heart these days is, as ever, football (soccer for the American readers). Will the Serie A (the Italian Premiership League) be shown on national TV? Not if Italian clubs can help it. They are all terribly upset that Italy's public TV service, RAI, has offered them only 50 million euro for Serie A TV rights. RAI should offer at least twice as much, according to the Football League's President, Signor Galliani. Forget it, says TV and Communications Minister Signor Gasparri: Why should the public service help pay the ridiculous salaries of Serie A players? 50 million is more than enough. The interesting twist here is that Signor Gasparri is a Minister in the Berlusconi government, and, as such, he is expressing Signor Berlusconi's view on the matter. But his opponent, Signor Galliani is not only the president of Football League - he is also the representative of the owner of Serie A club AC Milan... who is none other than Signor Berlusconi himself. No wonder Signor Berlusconi cannot attend Johannesburg. He is too busy reconciling his own views over football on TV.
The Italian Prime Minister fights (with himself) over football
So what's the big talk in Italy? You'd be forgiven for thinking the nation must be holding its collective breath over Signor Berlusconi's agonising decision on whether to join world leaders in Johannesburg. After all - he must be thinking - if President Bush, who is only the world's most powerful head of state, doesn't bother to turn up, why should I, who am God's Chosen?
posted by Carla Passino at 10:10 AM
Our Friends the Saudis As the West Wing's Toby Ziegler would say: with friends like these, who needs anemones? (link to Sunday Times requires registration)
Saudi royals may have helped Al Qaeda
The Sunday Times says that prominent members of the Saudi royal family financed and helped Al Qaeda, in return for its promise that it would wouldn't overthrow Saudi Arabia's regime.
posted by Carla Passino at 10:07 AM
The End of Man Always thought that men would be our downfall....(only a very short summary of the New Scientist story is available online).
The human race risks extinction - guess whose fault it is
New Scientist has a story on how the male half of the human species will become extinct in some five million years. The human race is at risk unless one or more new types of male humans evolve, giving birth to different human species.
posted by Carla Passino at 10:05 AM
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