Last updated 6-28-2022
I'm baaack... ;) Though I'm leaving for London in a scant few hours!
With any luck, the IRA will set off a car bomb that won't touch us but will kill Pinochet. I would rather see him dead than sent home with no chance of ever facing a judge. Hey, if he's as mentally incapacitated as they say, maybe he'll enjoy a trial, and even incarceration. Try the son of a bitch and set an example for the other dictators of the world, even if they don't convict him, even if they do let him off with a slap on the wrist. Let Pinochets in power, and Pinochets in training, take pause and realize that they just may be held accountable after all, if not by their own people then by the world at large.
I'm rather saddened and disappointed by the global turn of events since the last installment of Vitriol. The IRA is being just a tad too stubborn and has given Great Britain an excuse to pull the Northern Ireland executive apart. Israel is being just a tad too brutish and has given Syria and even more moderate Arab nations an excuse to rattle sabres. Communist China is just being stupid. Taiwan has no desire to claim independence, Taiwan has been independent, announced or recognized or not, since the Nationalists fled to Formosa in 1949. It's time Beijing accepted that and started looking at reunification negotiations from that angle. I don't think there's a government in the world that honestly considers Taiwan a province that's been 'renegade' for fifty years! The Chechens... I had such high hopes for the Chechens. And suddenly they abandoned Grozny, and it seems that they are being hard-pressed in the mountains now. The war is not over, but I hope they can hold out. I really do. I don't like the thought of a Russian victory in this case, not because I have anything against the Russians, but because I don't think they're in the right. And where the hell is Babitsky?!? If he turns up dead, there will be such an uproar, and my voice will be there in the din...
I've said this before, but I'll say it again: This is exactly why Russia and China were so opposed to the United Nations' intervention in Kosovo. Russia didn't want the rest of the world meddling in its affairs in Chechnya, and China didn't want the rest of the world meddling in its affairs in Taiwan. But while the three situations are different, the legal and human rights issues are similar. The big difference is, if China dares attack Taiwan, the West will get involved, in a big way, because money and the Taiwanese, in that order, are friends of Western democracy and capitalism.
Wow, a two-part "X-Files" that (apparently) finally explains what really happened to Mulder's sister, then the "Cops" episode. Even if you didn't like 'em, you have to admit they were dramatic and different. If this does turn out to be the last season, at least it won't go out with a whimper. And speaking of shows that don't whimper, if you haven't seen "Iron Chef" on the Food Network yet, watch it. Really! I never thought I could get into a show about cooking (Emeril still annoys me, though not as much as a few months ago), but this is some intense, edgy, and fun stuff.
Gary Bauer's out, but there's still a chance Pat Buchanan will run for President, for the Reform Party no less! Ugh. A lot of Perotistas are no doubt jumping ship as I have. Even if he weren't backing Buchanan, Ross has swung too far to the right for my taste. Can I take some of Bradley and some of McCain and put them together into one cohesive candidate? Or do the Greens or the Libertarians have anyone worthwhile running...? I can't stomach the though of George Dubya or Wooden Al Gore as President. And Tipper, the scourge of rock and rap musicians and fans, as First Lady? Next!
I am definitely looking forward to this vacation. :) My personal life has settled down a bit (well, that's oversimplifying wildly, but... ;) , and I no longer feel like playing Russian (Chechen? Serb?) roulette, but in spite of the steps I've taken towards inner peace, I still need to get away from 'it all' for a few days. It'll be much easier to enjoy myself now that there's a smile on my face again, though, and I owe that to a special someone. Thank you, special someone. :)))
Now, as long as it doesn't snow in England... Yipe! Try not to miss me. All, what, two of you, who actually bother to read Vitriol? - A
Last updated 6-28-2022
