The world of international diplomacy is so absurd that it could come straight out of Monty Python, according to Britain's ambassador in Thailand. In a lighthearted look at the more surreal side of the world's negotiating circuit, he revealed that it brought to mind the antics of John Cleese et al.
Millions are spent on flying people out, wining and dining them, haggling over commas and over the lowest common denominator communiqué, which are then instantly forgotten.
During a talk in Bangkok entitled The Influence of Monty Python on British Foreign Policy, the ambassador, David Fall, said: "There is nothing more silly than international conferences. Millions are spent on flying people out, wining and dining them, haggling over commas and over the lowest common denominator communiqué, which are then instantly forgotten. It's ridiculous. It's Pythonesque."
The "vast bureaucracy" of the European Union was the most Pythonic organisation of all, he told the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand. "A Tower of Babel, scores of official languages. If you want to translate from Hungarian the phrase, 'Farm subsidies should be reduced by 0.01 per cent by 2015', via English into Latvian, it's bound to come out, as in Monty Python, 'I wish to fondle your buttocks'."
Bangkok, with its plush official residence in the centre of the city, is regarded as a prime posting for Foreign Office officials. Yet Mr Fall experienced the grimmest side of the foreign service when he oversaw the British embassy's response to the tsunami in Thailand, where about 150 Britons were among more than 5,000 people killed.
Mr Fall is quick to point the finger of fun at himself and his colleagues. Describing diplomats as "bureaucrats and political eunuchs" undeserving of the deference they are accorded, he said: "If you've got no sense of the ridiculous it can go to your head. The main importance of Python is that it deflates the pompous, it recognises the absurdities of life - and, believe me, diplomacy has more than its fair share of both."
The ultimate test should be this: is a country or a government sure enough of itself to allow others to poke fun at it without launching a nuclear attack?
He said he believed that the reactions of countries to the 1970s television comedy series were a reliable guide to their true nature. "The leaders of Iran and North Korea perhaps lack a certain sense of humour," said Mr Fall, who is due to retire next year after a 30-year career, which has included postings in Thailand, Australia, South Africa and Vietnam. "The ultimate test should be this: is a country or a government sure enough of itself to allow others to poke fun at it without launching a nuclear attack? Such people, I suggest, should not be allowed unrestricted access to nuclear power. Any country with the words 'people's democratic' in the title tends to be definitely unfunny."
Mr Fall's most Pythonesque moment came in the 1970s, when as a junior embassy official in Thailand, he accompanied a group of military officers on a field trip. It became an opportunity to put months of language training to use, as he put it, "pimping for Her Majesty the Queen".
"We went into a typical north-eastern Thai nightclub, pitch black, they direct you to your seat by torch and something would appear and sit on your lap," he said. "I spoke Thai, so I was invited by a Philippines military officer to negotiate the price."
#1
"The ultimate test should be this: is a country or a government sure enough of itself to allow others to poke fun at it without launching a nuclear attack?"
My goodness!!!! Wisdom from a diplomat!!!!! I would make one change and include all other organizations along with governments. Kinda makes you think of Danish cartoons, no?
Saturday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced plans to visit his close friend and political ally in Havana. "Tomorrow I will be with Fidel celebrating his 80th birthday," Chavez told a news conference in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas after declaring his candidacy for re-election in December. "I'll take him a nice gift, a good cake, and we'll be celebrating the 80 years of this great figure of America and our history," Chavez said.
Very smooth conflation of the entire hemisphere into "America".
Latin American intellectuals
:: eye roll ::
had planned several days of parties, concerts and conferences on the legacy of Cuba's "Maximum Leader." Instead, Castro is expected to spend the weekend in recovery, and celebrations have been postponed until Dec. 2, the 50th anniversary of the Revolutionary Armed Forces.
HAVANA (AP) - Fidel Castro is sitting up, walking and even working a bit on the eve of his 80th birthday, Cuba's official Communist Party newspaper said Saturday. It was the most optimistic report yet since intestinal surgery forced the Cuban leader to step aside as president.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, meanwhile, announced plans to visit his close friend and political ally in Havana. "Tomorrow I will be with Fidel celebrating his 80th birthday," Chavez said at a news conference in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas after declaring his candidacy for re-election in December. "I'll take him a nice gift, a good cake, and we'll be celebrating the 80 years of this great figure of America and our history," Chavez said.
Maybe some of those old exploding cigars the CIA has left over ...
Saturday's article in the Granma newspaper - though brief and cryptic - was the most detailed statement Cuba's government has issued since Castro announced July 31 that he was temporarily ceding his powers to his younger brother Raul, No. 2 in the government. Fidel Castro said his condition during his recovery would be treated as a "state secret," so as not to give any advantage to his enemies in the United States.
"Firm Like a Caguairan," the Granma headline read, comparing Castro to a hardwood tropical tree native to eastern Cuba. "A friend tells us that just a few hours ago, upon visiting the Comandante who was briefly dispatching some business, he witnessed some good news that he enthusiastically summed up in one sentence: 'The Caguairan has risen,'" the paper said in a three-paragraph report.
"He said that he could appreciate how the Chief of the Revolution, after receiving a little physical therapy, took some steps in his room and then, seated in a chair, conversed animatedly," the report said, without identifying the friend.
Who was bored to death from the five hour 'animated conversation'.
Cuban Culture Minister Abel Prieto told The Associated Press on Friday that he was convinced that with or without Castro, Cuba will "continue to be a survivor of the sinking ship of socialism in the 20th century. It will be a reference for socialism in the 21st century." Prieto made clear he wants Castro to live much longer, and said the Cuban leader needs to learn to take care of himself and rest. "It's important that Fidel take that into account in the future," Prieto said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/13/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
"It's important that Fidel take that into account in the future," Prieto said.
#4
Die already! When he goes his clique goes with him. Only his charisma kept his regime alive. Cubans have too much to gain from good relations with the US. As far as cigars go, hand rolled Dominican Davidovs (and others) have long passed Cuban cigars in quality. And Bacardi (especially Mexican factories) never lowered quality of Rum, when Castro dropped the ax. However, Cuban scuba diving site are said to be the best anywhere.
#5
Interesting comparison with the caguairan, there. Of course, they forgot to mention some of the other characteristics of the caguairan tree, such as the wood does not weather well, and it has limited use as a shade tree since the pods emit an offensive odor. Not to mention that said pods have a protective gum that delays rotting for several months......
China's net import of crude oil rose to 70.33 million tons and refined oil products, 12.03 million tons, in the first half of the year, said an official with China's General Administration of Customs on Friday.
China imported 73.33 million tons of crude oil and exported 3 million tons in the first half of 2006, said Zhang Bingzheng, a statistical analyst under the department of statistics of China Customs, at an industrial forum held in Taiyuan, capital of north China's Shanxi Province.
Angola, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Russia are the top four oil suppliers of the country in the first half year, said Zhang.
As for the refined oil, the country imported 18.23 million tons and exported 6.2 million tons in the January-June period, Zhang said.
According to him, China's net import of crude oil cost the country 32 billion U.S. dollars and refined oil products, 4.37 billion dollars. The net import of crude oil and refined oil of the country rose by 17.6 percent and 48.3 percent year on year, respectively.
In the meantime, China produced 91.66 million tons of crude, up by 2.1 percent over the same period last year, and 84.82 million tons of refined oil, representing a year-on-year increase of 5.6 percent, in the first half, showed the statistics from the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association. Both hit the new high of production record, compared with figures for past years.
The rapid growth of Chinese economy as well as its booming auto ownership contributes to the surging demand for oil in the country, said experts. According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, China's GDP surged a year-on-year 10.9 percent in the first half of 2006, 0.9 percent higher than the same period of 2005.
Posted by: ed ||
08/13/2006 09:50 ||
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#1
17.6% increase in one year is hardly believable. They must have been understating previous year, or are understating re-exports, or something. I know their economy is growing fast, but I don't see they've added enough consumption capacity to explain these numbers. Perhaps they've built and are filling some serious strategic petroleum reserve? To insure against sea blockade until they get their land pipelines to Iran and central Asia complete?
#3
About a year ago, China's oil imports fell sharply. Probably becuase they stopped filling reserves when went prices went over $50. They may well have decided to start filling the reserve again.
#5
Why so much growth? Here's your answer: Chinas automobile sales surged by 26.71 percent in the first half of the year to reach 3.53 million units, according to figures released Friday by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. China is moving away from oil as a feedstock for its power plants. Nuclear, hydro and coal are replacing oil. As a result, the primary driver of oil consumption growth is becoming motor vehicles.
It's not just cars. Hundreds of millions of Chinese still ride bicycles to work. They are moving up to motorcycles* and Chinese ripoffs of the Italian Vespa design (I love their looks). That's another part of where the growth in gasoline consumption is coming from. For example, a motorcyclist commuting a few miles to work might spend just over 100 yuan a month. That's affordable even on a salary of 800 yuan ($100) a month, which is why many Chinese are moving up to motor bikes. Most Chinese live with their parents until they get married, and some continue to live with them after they get married, so the low salaries are not an impediment to owning a motor vehicle. Food is typically half the price of the equivalent in the US, and rents can be as low as 100 yuan ($12.50) a month for a one bedroom in the sticks just fifteen miles away from the town center.
(AP) - The weaponry is heavily American - F-16s bombarding a simulated Chinese flotilla, Cobra helicopters targeting invading ground troops, Patriot missiles streaking across the azure Asian sky.
The annual war games are Taiwan's way of showcasing its readiness to repel an attack by neighboring China, and they also serve as a reminder that the island's back-up muscle comes from Washington, long its major supporter.
The exercise highlights a rivalry between democratic Taiwan and its giant communist neighbor that potentially could draw the United States into a conflict with a China that is fast emerging as a global heavyweight.
Talk is tough on both sides of the 100 mile-wide Taiwan Strait separating the island and the mainland. But as with Korea, Asia's other unfinished civil war, this one reflects a complex set of priorities that range from domestic politics to international economics, regional rivalries to global strategic interests.
China and Taiwan split in 1949, and since then Beijing has never abandoned its position that the island is part of its territory, to be recovered by force if necessary.
#1
Just for thought....how much in Chinese-held T-bills could be defaulted on in a shooting war in Asia? The Chinese have an interest in seeing that we feel like continuing our payments.
#2
The cumulative trade deficit with China is $1 Trillion. Though some of that comes back because, until very recently, China had a trade deficit with the rest of the world (minus US). In effect China's development has been wholely funded by the buying habits of the US consumer.
Posted by: ed ||
08/13/2006 10:00 Comments ||
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#3
Just remember too, that 25%+ of China's GDP comes from the US. Cut that off and instant depression.
Both the US and China have a LOT to loose by going to war and I doubt one would be taken lightly by either party.
#4
DV - that's the difference between confrontation with China vs. confrontation with Islam - the Chinese are likely to be following similar rational thought patterns to ours, unlike Islam. In the Cold War the philosphy was MAD - mutual assured destruction (by nuclear war); with China it could be called MAED - mutual assured economic destruction. We are economically dependent on each other, for now. Perhaps not for too much longer though, if the Chinese internal market and Asian trade gets strong enough to make the US economic component a small enough fraction to be willing to sacrifice.
#2
Who remembers that a US Supertanker made that passage in 1969? Internationalizing the waters would invite unwanted third parties. It would be in Canada's interest to sign a treaty with the US. Exclusive Canadian sovereignty over water ways between Alaska and the US Atlantic States is a non-starter.
#4
Stephen Harper recognizes that sovreignty is a function of safe borders. Even northern borders. Experts should stick to figuring out how to draw a 200 mile boundary across and island archepelago.
As for global warming opening up the Northwest Passage, I'm waiting for Algores canoe trip.
Posted by: john ||
08/13/2006 9:21 Comments ||
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PSSST Mr Prime Minister the duckies have already violated your sovereignty when they came through that passage a long time ago. BOSTON July 2003- Being thrown from a container ship, drifting for more than a decade, bobbing through three oceans it's enough to turn a rubber duckie white. A floating flock of the bathtub toys along with beavers, turtles and frogs is believed to be washing ashore somewhere along the New England coast, bleached and battered from a trans-Arctic journey. Oceanographers say the trip has taught them valuable lessons about the ocean's currents.
The toys have been adrift since 29,000 of them fell from a storm-tossed container ship en route from China to Seattle more than 11 years ago.
From a point in the Pacific Ocean near where the 45th parallel meets the international date line, they floated along the Alaska coast, reaching the Bering Strait by 1995 and Iceland five years later. By 2001 they had floated to the area in the north Atlantic where the Titanic sank.
"Some kept going, some turned and headed to Europe," says Curtis Ebbesmeyer of Seattle, a retired oceanographer who's been tracking the toys' progress. "By now, hundreds should be dispersed along the New England coast."
Ebbesmeyer has been able to track the toys with the help of duckies that washed ashore along the way. He said they have been a useful tool in teaching oceanography, and have shed light on the way surface currents behave.
ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to put Pakistan on the map of nations exploring space, said President General Pervez Musharraf at the graduation ceremony of the Institute of Space Technologys (IST) first batch of BSc in aeronautical, aeronautical engineering and communication systems engineering on Friday.
We must explore space and bring its benefits to the people of Pakistan, he said at the ceremony attended by federal ministers, services chiefs, senior government officials and the institutes faculty. He vowed to launch a manned flight to space and even the moon in the coming years. Musharraf said the countrys space programme had been neglected in the past, and adequate funds had not been provided for its development. He said the government was providing funds to all research and strategic organisations to achieve the desired results.
The government had brought Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission under the National Command Authoritys control to bring the commission at par with strategic organisations, he said, adding that the government had realised the potential of space in terms of socio-economic development and security.
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Posted by: john ||
08/13/2006 16:29 ||
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#1
As one of the poorest countries in the world... why doesn't he do something novel ... like say....
employ and feed and educate his peasants.
#2
Actually the drive to mass produce PhDs will destroy whatever is left of Pak higher Education
Here is Professor Pervez Hoodbhoy.
Pakistan has almost a hundred universities now. Not one of them is world class. Truth be told, not even one of them is a real university, if by a university one means a community of scholars engaged in free inquiry and the creation of knowledge.
Take for example the Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad, reputed to be Pakistan's best. Academic activities common in good universities around the world are noticeably absent.
Seminars and colloquia, where faculty present for peer review the results of their on-going research, are few and far between. Public lectures, debates, or discussions of contemporary scientific, cultural, or political issues are almost non-existent.
The teaching at QAU is no better. Rote learning is common, students are not encouraged to ask questions in class, and courses are rarely completed by the end of the semester. This university has three mosques but no bookstore. It is becoming more like a madressah in other ways too.
All student unions are gone, and ideological disputes have evaporated into the thin air. Instead of left vs right politics there is simple tribalism. Now Punjabi students gang together against Pakhtoon students, Muhajirs versus Sindhis, Shias versus Sunnis, etc.
Some campuses are run by gangs of hoodlums and harbour known criminals, while others have Rangers with machine guns on continuous patrol. On occasion, student wolf packs attack each other with sticks, stones, pistols, and automatic weapons. There are many campus murders.
Most students have not learned how to think; they cannot speak or write any language well, rarely read newspapers, and cannot formulate a coherent argument or manage any significant creative expression.
Dumbed down, this generation of Pakistanis is intellectually handicapped. Like overgrown children, students of my university now kill time by making colourful birthday posters for friends, do "istikhara" (fortune telling), and wander aimlessly in Islamabad's bazaars.
Driven by the unfavourable comparison with neighbours, the need for university reform finally became an issue. The first big idea was that Pakistan needed more universities.
So today all it takes is a piece of paper from the HEC and some paint. Some colleges have literally had their signboards taken down for repainting, and been put back up changed into "universities" the next day.
By such sleight of hand the current tally of public universities, according to the HEC website, is now officially 47, up from the 23 officially listed in 1996. In addition, there are eight degree awarding public sector institutes.
Unfortunately, this is merely a numbers game. All new public sector universities lack infrastructure, libraries, laboratories, adequate faculty, or even a pool of students academically prepared to study at the university level.
The HEC's "generosity" extends even into largely illiterate tribal areas. There are so-called universities now in Malakand, Bannu, Kohat, Khuzdar, Gujrat, Haripur, and in many other places where it is difficult to detect the slightest potential for successfully establishing modern universities.
Another poorly thought-out, and dangerous, HEC scheme involves giving massive cash awards to university teachers for publishing research papers - Rs 60,000 per paper published in a foreign journal.
Established practices of plagiarizing papers, multiple publications of slightly different versions of the same paper in different research journals, fabricating scientific data, and seeking out third-rate foreign journals with only token referees are now even more common. The HEC has broadcast the message: corruption pays.
The casual disregard for quality is most obvious in the HEC's massive PhD production programme. This involves enrolling 1,000 students in Pakistani universities every year for PhD degrees.
Thereby Pakistan's "PhD deficit" (it produces less than 50 PhDs per annum at present) will supposedly be solved and it will soon be at par with India. In consequence, an army of largely incapable and ignorant students, armed with hefty HEC fellowships, has sallied forth to write PhD theses.
Although the HEC claims that it has checked the students through a "GRE type test" (the American graduate school admission test), a glance at the question papers reveals it to be only a shoddy literacy and numeric test.
In my department, advertised as the best physics department in the country, the average PhD student now has trouble with high-school level physics and even with reading English.
Nevertheless there are as many as 18 PhD students registered with one supervisor! In the QAU biology department, that number rises to 37 for one supervisor. HEC incentives have helped dilute PhD qualifying exams to the point where it is difficult for any student not to pass.
The implications of this mass-production of PhDs are dire. Very soon hundreds and, in time, thousands of worthless PhDs will be cranked out. They will train even less competent students.
Eventually they will become heads of departments and institutions. When appointed gatekeepers, they will regard more competent individuals as threats to be kept locked out. The degenerative spiral, long evident in any number of Pakistani institutions, will worsen rapidly, and become infinitely more difficult to break.
Posted by: john ||
08/13/2006 16:53 Comments ||
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mass production of degrees waters down the requirements. Hell, San Diego State Univ. gave me a BS in Civil Engineering (minor in Radiation Physics) WHILE I lived in a fraternity (SAE), so you know I rarely attended classes and unnecessary events....
Pakistan should follow our example and have more fraternities. Is Animal House available in arabic?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/13/2006 17:08 Comments ||
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And even someone like Hoodbhoy, a US educated nuclear physicist, who is against the islamists, if you scratch him deeply enoughs reveals how "moderate" he is
The United States has bombed 21 countries since 1948, recently killed thousands of people on the pretext of chasing weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and claims to be a force for democracy despite a long history of supporting the bloodiest of dictators. Do Americans have even a clue of the anger that seethes in the hearts of people across the globe? Do they care? They now need to
Today, the United States rightly lives in fear of the Bomb it created because the decision to use it--if and when it becomes available--has already been made. But this time around, pious men with beards will decide when and where on American soil atomic weapons are to be used.
Iran's president has launched a Web log, using his first entry to recount his poor upbringing and ask visitors to the site if they think the United States and Israel want to start a new world war.
Okay, I'll start the naming contest: PersianNuts.com
"Oh Almighty God, please, we beg you to send us our Guardian- who You have promised us- soon and appoint us as His close companions," wrote the Iranian president
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose speeches are riddled with anti-U.S. rhetoric, also described how he was angered by American meddling in Iran even when he was at elementary school.
Ahmadinejad swept to a surprise victory in last year's presidential race by promising the country's poor a fairer share of Iran's oil wealth and emphasizing his own humble origins that led many to vote for him as an "outsider" to Iran's ruling elite.
"During the era that ... living in a city was perfection, I was born in a poor family in a remote village," he wrote in a blog dated Friday, after opening with Islamic greetings.
His origins as the son of "a hard-bitten toiler blacksmith" may have been humble, but he says he excelled at school where he said he came 132nd out of 400,000 in exams to enter university.
As well as promising a better life to the poor, Ahmadinejad has sought to bolster support by refusing to bow to what he says is Western pressure to stop Iran's civilian nuclear program. The West says Iran is building an atomic bomb.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/13/2006 18:49 ||
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For many students, college is an intellectual rite of passage.
The beliefs that students bring to the classroom often collide with what they learn. Professors push students to think critically.
But some Arizona lawmakers think that push has gone too far. They want to tame what they see as left-leaning professors at state universities who they contend wield an unhealthful influence over Arizona's younger minds.
Their response is a string of proposals that opponents fear could quash academic freedom. The efforts reflect a nationwide trend being fueled by conservative activists.
#1
"Is there a common denominator among students complaining? Sometimes, students are used (by others) to promote an agenda. We need to look at that."
Substitute the word "professors" for "students", and you'll be a lot closer to the truth.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
08/13/2006 11:41 Comments ||
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#2
Yeah, I learned quickly at ASU just what your reward was for "challenging a professor with a different viewpoint" was. Usually it was a big ol' D, so they could "pass" you but still have the pleasure of destroying your GPA.
#4
For many students, college is an intellectual rite of passage.
When most Universities and Colleges let the inmates take over the asylum in the late 60s, most intellect left the building. Therefore for many students, college is a certification, rather than rite of passage, for a job interview.
The vandals who hit the historic Old West Church in Boston spared little. The church's beloved old pulpit Bible was torn in half. Its hymnals were violently scattered about the sanctuary. Four old paintings of previous pastors were ripped from the walls and torn. A 5-foot tall painting of Jesus on the Cross was slashed.
The church's pastor, The Rev. Laurel Scott, led a cleanup of the mess yesterday and vowed to carry on. ``My approach is: We live in this kind of world, and these things will happen," she said. ``There's no reason to think we'll be exempt. The real question is how we handle it and go forward."
Boston police said they had no suspects in the vandalism, which occurred around 7:30 a.m. on Thursday. However, Scott said police told her that fingerprints were found all over the crime scene, and investigators worked yesterday to trace them while also appealing to the public for help. Nothing was stolen from the church on Cambridge Street.
Continued on Page 49
#1
I know all Christians are supposed to shreik in horror that a "Christian" church was ransacked. I object to the vandalism in the same way I'd object to vandalizing anything: Vandalism is mean, violent and senseless, and a violation of property rights. But I don't object on the basis that it was a 'church' or possibly a 'hate crime'. They wrote 'Ichabod' over the door of this place many decades ago. Maybe if the hoodlums went after a Bible believing church, I'd feel differently.
#3
All you do is a little sacking of Rome in 445AD, and no one lets up on your case. Everytime someone trashes a place, you get blamed. Let's not stereotype out there boys.
Posted by: Vandal Anti Defamation League ||
08/13/2006 9:02 Comments ||
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#4
I thought the Vandals went down the Iberian Pennisula and across to Africa.
#5
I don't think fingerpronts will do them a whole hell of a lot of good.
It's a church, there've got to be thousands of parishioners fingerprints inside it, and on a 200 year old Bible, think of all who have turbed it's pages over the last two centuries.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/13/2006 11:22 Comments ||
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#6
The church's pastor, The Rev. Laurel Scott, led a cleanup of the mess yesterday and voweled to carry on.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The world of international diplomacy is so absurd that it could come straight out of Monty Python, according to Britain's ambassador in Thailand. In a lighthearted look at the more surreal side of the world's negotiating circuit, he revealed that it brought to mind the antics of John Cleese et al.
Bangkok, with its plush official residence in the centre of the city, is regarded as a prime posting for Foreign Office officials. Yet Mr Fall experienced the grimmest side of the foreign service when he oversaw the British embassy's response to the tsunami in Thailand, where about 150 Britons were among more than 5,000 people killed. 
Saturday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced plans to visit his close friend and political ally in Havana. "Tomorrow I will be with Fidel celebrating his 80th birthday," Chavez told a news conference in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas after declaring his candidacy for re-election in December. "I'll take him a nice gift, a good cake, and we'll be celebrating the 80 years of this great figure of America and our history," Chavez said.
HAVANA (AP) - Fidel Castro is sitting up, walking and even working a bit on the eve of his 80th birthday, Cuba's official Communist Party newspaper said Saturday. It was the most optimistic report yet since intestinal surgery forced the Cuban leader to step aside as president.
Cuban Culture Minister Abel Prieto told The Associated Press on Friday that he was convinced that with or without Castro, Cuba will "continue to be a survivor of the sinking ship of socialism in the 20th century. It will be a reference for socialism in the 21st century." Prieto made clear he wants Castro to live much longer, and said the Cuban leader needs to learn to take care of himself and rest. "It's important that Fidel take that into account in the future," Prieto said.
The vandals who hit the historic Old West Church in Boston spared little. The church's beloved old pulpit Bible was torn in half. Its hymnals were violently scattered about the sanctuary. Four old paintings of previous pastors were ripped from the walls and torn. A 5-foot tall painting of Jesus on the Cross was slashed.
