Loose Cannons

Commander-in-chief all at sea

"I think — tide turning — see, as I remember — I was raised in the desert, but tides kind of — it's easy to see a tide turn — did I say those words?" — Emperor George Bush II, June 14, responding to a reporter's question: "Is the tide turning in Iraq?"

Won't 'cut' and let Iraqis 'run' Iraq

"This is not the time to leave the Iraqi people to their own devices, in other words to cut and run." — Prime Menzies John Howard, June 22, announcing that the 450-strong contingent of Australian based in southern Iraq's Al Muthanna province will relocate 100 kilometres south-east in late July to the giant US military base at Tallil, 10 kilometres outside the city of Nasiriyah.

Expert opinion

"A market system has not worked in terms of poor people." — US multi-billionaire investor Warren Buffet, June 27, announcing that he will donate US$30 billion to fellow US multi-billionaires Bill and Melinda Gates' Gates Foundation charity.

'Market system' (aka capitalism) at work

"Between 1980 and 2004 America's GDP went up by almost two-thirds. But instead of making everyone better off, it has made only a part of the country wealthier, as another part slips ever more into the black hole of the working poor. There are now 37 million Americans living in poverty, and at 12.7 percent of the population, it is the highest percentage in the developed world." — London Observer, June 8.

From Green Left Weekly, July 5, 2006.

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From GLW issue 674