jennings's well-rounded tones, world-savvy air and matter-of-fact delivery led "world news tonight" to the top of the ratings for 11 of the past 20 years. [washington post, 8.8.2005]

peter jennings dies of lung cancer
longtime abc news anchor was 67

since april fifth, when jennings announced his diagnosis on the news program, he kept his public comments positive. even during the initial announcement, he said he would be undergoing chemotherapy and joked about losing his hair.

"i wonder if other men and women ask their doctors right away, 'ok, doc, when does the hair go?' said the immaculately dressed and coifed jennings."

africa and its rapacious leaders
books of the times | 'the fate of africa'

mr. meredith's frequent claim is that complicated african problems have been exploited and oversimplified for the benefit of the wider world.

as for its title, "the fate of africa" finds woe there too. "far from being able to provide aid and protection to their citizens," he writes, "african governments and the vampirelike politicians who run them are regarded by the populations they rule as yet another burden they have to bear in the struggle for survival."

bush's latin test
the president only narrowly avoided an embarrassing political defeat over the u.s.'s new trade deal with six of its southern neighbours, writes david teather

in a last-minute effort to ensure the pact was passed, the president, george bush, and his vice-president, dick cheney, took the usual step of personally rallying recalcitrant republicans to the cause. according to reports, various side deals were cut offering new highways, high-profile committee posts and special interest protection for certain industries in return for support.

the president also stressed national security, arguing that trade helps cement the relatively new democracies in the region, providing stability and preventing the further northward migration that u.s. conservatives dread.

in a statement the president said: "this agreement is more than a trade bill; it is a commitment of freedom-loving nations to advance peace and prosperity."

the u.s. manufacturing base continues to shrink in the face of competition from low-cost countries. around three million jobs in industry were lost in the u.s. during mr. bush's first term alone. and globalization is being blamed.

hmmm, i did not know that u.s. policy still contained "stability" and "advance peace and prosperity" in marks with pro- globalization efforts. and i don't think i'm badly criticizing the president, or anyone, for thinking that, but, globalization is complicated. i think "stability" and "peace" are non-existent in terms of globalization for the same reasons that equality and freedom cannot go hand-in-hand with one another. ideologically, and i mean this sincerely, in this day and age, concepts like that cannot be fused into one development. in an ideal world, it would be paradise. in our society, reality throws a cold shoulder to globalization, and generally, foreign policies. i don't mean the u.s.'s alone, either. realistically, someone will always want to come out on top of the next person, so trying to apply ideas like stable economies and peaceful relations among countries along globalization's borders is bullshit; it's futile because they exist at very polar ends of the political and ideological spectrum. call it arrogance or whatever you like. don't try convincing yourself that "stability" and "peace" can exist among wealthy and poverty-stricken nations; i bet even a five-year old can name every country, alphabetically, who has simply lost-out culturally and economically because of globalization. it's sad, but that is the view from here and there. globalization has two very different sides, but, quite frankly, they've led to the same conditions.

furthermore... multipolarity.

china, with its growing trade imbalance with the u.s. and its increasing economic and military might, has become the lightning rod for american anxiety.