In a strange way, I find myself agreeing with the US ambassador to Israel, Dan Kurtzer, when he said on Friday that it is "unrealistic" to expect the large settlements on the West Bank to be evacuated. It seems to me that Kurtzer is correct in identifying the permanence of Ma'aleh Adumim et al . However, the American diplomat was amiss in not drawing the logical
I'm sorry for your family's loss, Larry.
Meghan, I haven't seen any of your recent clashes with this guy, but I know enough about him to know that he's a complete tosser. However, I don't think you should let him wind you up. I have a saying which I think is apt here: "If I don't respect you, I don't give a shit what you think."
Thanks, I read it a few weeks back, one of those things I wish I'd written.
62 Lurgan champagne on the park bench of a Friday night.
Thursday was my last St. Patrick's Day. From now on, I'm boycotting the annual celebration of all things Oirish. Next March 17th, no matter where I may be in the world, I will be defiantly (and uncharcteristically) sober. Anyone foolish enough to wish me a happy Paddy's Day will be met by a terse "bah, humbug!" For me, this won't be much of a sacrifice. When
The first thing that struck me upon entering the West Bank city of Nablus was not the poverty or the violence but rather the sheer natural beauty of the city's setting, nestled in a valley. It seemed only right that Palestine, as a land over which two peoples struggle, should be a physically beautiful country. Other conflict zones like Ireland, Lebanon and t
One of the advantages of learning Hangeul , the Korean writing system, is that it allows the native English speaker to understand many words which have been Hangeul-ised from English. So for example, at the cafe I can order a " ka peu chi no " or a " mo ka ". Sometimes though, ignorance might be bliss. A while ago, I saw a public information
I never knew that today was an Italian holiday. I've just eaten spaghetti
Circumstances forced me to be socialable this Paddy's Day (a friend was visiting from Japan). But I'm boycotting next year, and every other year that the Lord, in his infinite wisdom, is good enough to bless me with. Bah, humbug!!!
Agh! Please don't compare me to that man
In the run-up to the war in Iraq, the supposedly liberal US commentator, Tom Friedman tried to rally progressives to the war camp with the argument (I'm paraphrasing) "somethings are still right, even if Bush thinks they are". While I do not agree with Friedman's position on the Iraq war, I do accept the principle he was espousing. Every once in a while, I
I find it remarkable how Americans refer to their government, their armed forces and their country in the first person."We have to support our president and our troops in Iraq. We have to win." Or equally, "We have to oppose our president's Iraq policy. We have to bring our troops home. We can't win." The idea that the government belongs to the people is s
Ten years ago my school, deep in unionist Ulster, became the first mainly Protestant place of learning to invite members of the IRA's political wing, Sinn Fein (SF), to come and speak to the pupils. At the time this was a controversial step. The IRA's ceasefire was not yet a year old and SF was still, to many unionists, completely beyond the pale morally. As
Pedro, Obviously, the crabs have got joie de vivre
Last year a family friend spent a week here in Seoul on business. The second time we met, just before he was due to leave, he looked at me in a pleasantly bewildered manner and sighed: " This city has beaten me. It's a beast ." For those unaccustomed to epically large Asian cities, this is a common sentiment. The traffic, the noise, the over-crowding,
Thanks for the kind words, Larry
Sorry about disturbing your sleep patterns, Larry. I never thought of that, it's lunch time over here
I've been away from Northern Ireland (NI) for ten months and as such, I'm starting to feel out of touch with political developments back home. In particular, I've been perplexed by the depth of the crisis precipitated by the IRA's robbery of 26 million pounds from a Belfast bank just before Christmas. Of course, I accept that the two governments and the other politica
Thirty miles from where I sit typing this is the country of North Korea, which announced last week for the first time that it has nuclear weapons. When I first heard this news I paused for a moment of trepidation. And then, like everyone else in this region, I got on with life. After all, last week's announcement was not "news" as such, but merely confirmation of what
a British born terrorist is released Hmmm..........so this gentleman in question was convicted of a terrorist crime was he?
Nice article, foreverserenity. I was thinking about these issues recently myself. As a young man, I usually give up my seat on the bus or subway if other people are standing. Those who want to give up their seats should simply stand up and walk away and hope that the oldest/frailest of the standers gets the seat. I don't like the demonstrative "giving up" of a seat with the wave of an arm as if to say "Oh please have my seat. Look
When someone you care about is terminally ill, their death can be the cause of guilty satisfaction on your part. "At last", you think to yourself, "the suffering is over". I feel a little like that this week following the summit between Mahmoud Abbas and Ariel Sharon in Sharm-al-Sheikh. At the meeting in Egypt, the two leaders agreed to a ceasefire ending the four-yea
I've no idea. Perhaps I've been singled out
I'm no military expert, but I would say that if war breaks out, don't expect Taiwan to just roll over and die. Taiwan has one of the world's best air forces. Plus, go look at a map, the Taiwan strait may not look very wide, but that's 100 miles of open sea which any invasion force will have to cross. China can certainly rain down missiles on Taiwan but can she actually conquer the island? I think not.
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