Irrefutable proof of the linkage between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden on Friday, when The Don, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, repeatedly got the two mixed up during a National Press Club luncheon in Washington.
Here's a couple of quotes from the transcript published by the US Department of Defence on their website. Exhibit A:
Barry Bonds hit career homerun number 699 on Sunday as the Giants beat the Diamondbacks 5-2 in Phoenix. He's now 15 behind George Herman Ruth and 56 behind Henry Aaron. For those who care, it was also his 100th home run scored in the month of September. Another centennial in the game: Arizona's 100th loss of this season.
No, I'm not having delusions. I realise that Essendon are out of the 2004 AFL premiership after their appalling effort against Geelong on Saturday night.
But as we commemorate the anniversary of 9/11, let's remember that almost as many people are still dying in Darfur every week as died in the World Trade Center attack.
- Nicholas D.Kristof, New York Times, 11 September 2004
It's been three years since the most audacious act of international aggression in the last half century. Now, for the first time, I am putting into writing my views about that day.
WBUR Boston's weekly "Only A Game" radio program is doing a feature on Pro Cricket on Saturday September 11. That should be available to hear live at 7am EST (1100 GMT, 9pm in Sydney) and archived later for listening on-demand.
The audio link is on the WBUR home page, and there is more information on WBUR's Only A Game site.
I think I'm finally coming back to earth following Australia's silver-medal performance in the Olympic baseball. And with Boston @ Seattle in progress on the tele, it's time to catch up on some baseball items over the past fortnight.
Human rights groups in Australia proclaimed Thursday, September 9, 2004 as a National Day of Shame. The following is a press release from Rural Australians for Refugees:
No crime but life imprisonment
Peter Qasim and Eidriess Abdulrahman Al Salih are two of 13 stateless asylum seekers who face indefinite detention in Australia. They are currently in Baxter Detention Centre.
It was quite hilarious to hear John Winston Howard kick off the election campaign last Sunday week by saying that it was "all about trust". Days after more evidence was coming to light that he knew about the "Children Overboard" fraud before the 2001 election, he takes the bold, aggressive step of asking for us trust this time around.
JWH's press release on August 29, announcing the election, is comical for many reasons, but it is the third paragraph that has electioneering Sound Bite dripping all over it:
August 29 was the 225th anniversary of the Battle of Newtown. That's Newtown, New York, and this was part of the American War of Independence. The US beat Britain in this one (as they did eventually in the entire struggle.)
The real losers, however, were the people of the Iroquois confederacy of nations.
I'm sorry. I laughed my head off when I saw this report. I shouldn't, I know.
In short, the Genesis space probe, with its cargo of space particles, crashed to Earth instead of being intercepted by Hollywood stunt choppers on its descent. You see, it's parachute failed to open.