Loose cannons

Always read the fine print

"Asia's poor countries briefly thought they had hit the jackpot on Saturday when Japan promised a staggering $500 billion to a regional poverty reduction fund. Speaking in Japanese to an annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Shanghai, 80-year-old finance minister Masajuro Shiokawa mistakenly said Tokyo was ready to provide [US]$500 billion to the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction at the ADB. But his prepared speech in English distributed after he spoke said Japan would make a contribution of [US]$50 million to the fund." — Reuters report, May 13.

Shameless I

"Australia has played an important role in assisting East Timor on its path to independence." — Prime Menzies John Howard, May 14.

Shameless II

"We had to call it something. There was nothing wrong with it. It was capitalism in its purest sense." — A senior trader in Enron's Portland electricity-trading office, commenting to May 15 Oregonian on Enron's schemes to manipulate consumer prices through strategies called "Death Star" and "Get Shorty".

Offer they couldn't refuse

"We've got a vast coalition of nations that are still with us. They heard the message, either you're with us, or you're not with us. They're still with us." — George "The Crusader" Bush, May 14.

Patriots

"You know, sometimes in Washington we actually are able to put our political parties aside and focus on what's best for the country." — George the Crusader again.

From Green Left Weekly, May 22, 2002.

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From GLW issue 493