A Spaceman's Blog - Philippe Rose

Saturday, 19 February 2005

No plans to attack the US

"Switzerland has no plans to attack the US", foreign affairs minister Calmy-Rey told journalists in Geneva today. "Listen, first of all, you never want a minister to say 'never.' But military action is certainly not - it's never the minister's first choice. Diplomacy is always the minister's first - at least my first choice. I hear all these rumors about military attacks, and it's just not the truth," she continued. Maps of military exercices with the symbol "US" depicting enemy positions were discovered in her office last week. "They know what they need to do," Calmy-Rey said of the US. "And so what they are trying to do is kind of wiggle out."

[19 February]

Thursday, 17 February 2005

Negroponte

Could someone please kindly write up John Negroponte's resume and major career achivements for me? I am especially interested in his work in Central America and with Iran.

BBC: Bush names new intel chief
Economist: A new spymaster

[17 February]

Monday, 14 February 2005

Ivanov

Russia is concerned about the activity on its territory of US government-financed programs ostensibly aimed at promoting democracy and civil society, said Sergei Ivanov, Defence Minister, Russian Federation.

"Democracy is not a potato that you can transplant from one kitchen garden to another. I believe that in recent years democracy in Russia has been developing normally. We are prepared to calmly move further in this direction, developing democracy and integrating into the global economic system, but while doing so we prefer to be masters of our own house."

Many Russians say US government funds and private financing from US groups and individuals played a decisive role in the outcome of the Ukraine election. Washington has said that it did not back any candidate but merely sought to support a Western-style democratic process there.

In an interview published Friday in a Russian newspaper, the new US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States intended to support development of civil society and democracy in Russia through non-governmental organizations.

When asked about his attitude to "color revolutions" (Georgia's "rose revolution" and Ukraine's "orange revolution"), Mr. Ivanov expressed confidence that "none of the CIS countries would want revolutionary upheavals." "All want stability. The use of extra-parliamentary methods and street protests hardly meets long-term interests of any country's stability," said Mr. Ivanov. He does not think that "color revolutions" are a democratic way of changing power.

"Do you think that the change of power in Georgia that took place in the streets is truly democratic? Do you think that such values and principles are laid down in the documents of the Council of Europe and the OSCE?" said Mr. Ivanov.

[14 February]

Friday, 11 February 2005

Fifteen

Royston Tan's 15 (2003) was playing at the ICA, showing the cruel lives of teens in Singapore. Utilising an entirely non-professional cast, and drawing on their real-life experiences, it carries echoes of Larry Clark's Kids in its fearless depiction of truanting, bullying, body-piercing, self-harming, porn-watching and drug-smuggling.

This is a tough watch at times, yet there's a strain of black humour to 15, particularly in the search by Shaun and Erick to find a suitable building from which their pal Armani can commit suicide.

[11 February]

Thursday, 10 February 2005

Iran

Interesting chat with a guy from a US-owned UK company doing business in Iran. Apparently, a majority of companies operating in Iran are US-owned, operating through subsidiaries and taking advantage of a legal loophole to do so. It is impossible for the governments not to be aware of this. So I take it they must somehow sanction it - never mind the rhetoric about trade embargo and axis of evil and all that, practical concerns dominate. And without such companies operating on its soil, Iran's economy couldn't function. Probably part of the game.

[10 February]

Saturday, 5 February 2005

A perspective on London

A friend of mine sent me this sms, a few hours after arriving into London:

"Why are all women sooo incredibly devastatingly puking fat, ugly and disgusting?

A bit strong-worded, but quite an observation in such short time. (And Friday nights are slightly worse than usual.)

[05 February]

Friday, 4 February 2005

Reise, Reise

Flame-throwers, a butcher's knife, a rubber boat boucing on the crowd, explosives and fireworks: Rammstein was above everything.

Needing no introduction, they blew us all away. Even when the gig was drawing to an end, their 3-time encore exhausted the most die-hard fans in the crowd.

Watch this... (more in gallery)

Rammstein - Feuer Frei

Rammstein - Butcher

Rammstein - Crowd surfing