Loose cannons

Peddling baloney

Eating McDonald's hamburgers and fries reflects "an individualistic relationship between man and God which goes back to [Martin] Luther". — Catholic theologian Massimo Salami writing in the Italian bishops' daily Avvenire.

Chinese road to socialism

"There has never been a better time for capitalists in modern China." — US business magazine Forbes reporting that the 50 richest people in "Communist" China have a combined fortune of US$10 billion, one fifth of which is held by Rong Yiren, China's vice-president from 1993 to 1998.

Reality bytes I

Microsoft boss Bill Gates "shocked a [Creating Digital Dividends] conference of computer-industry wizards with the news that the billions of people who subsist on a dollar a day are not in a position to benefit from the Information Age". — Melbourne Age, November 9.

Reality bytes II

"[Gates] has lost much of the faith he once had that global capitalism would prove capable of solving the most immediate catastrophes facing the world's poorest people, especially the 40,000 deaths a day from preventable diseases." — Melbourne Age, November 9.

From GLW issue 428