The Null Device
2002/1/24
If it wasn't for George W. Bush, we'd all be speaking Afghani: After wiping the floor with the Taliban and making Osama Bin Laden look "haggard", Bush's war cabinet has decided that Saddam's next, and intend to have him ousted in as soon as six months. And once that's done, there's no need to stop there. Gaddafi is still thumbing his nose at America in Tripoli, and Castro's still in Cuba; perhaps we can expect to see these rogue leaders of "outlaw states" brought down with daisy-cutter bombs next, as part of a campaign to clean up the global streets?
(And, of course, the Australian government has promised unconditional military support to the US "war on terrorism", so Aussie diggers will be fighting in Iraq within the year, and perhaps making Havana safe for McDonalds in a year's time or so.)
An amusing article on how to seem smarter without reading any of them book things. Now someone should do one on how to appear congenially stupid, as that tends to attract more empathy and goodwill. (Or, as "Bob" said, "act like a dumbshit and they'll treat you as an equal.")
Here's an idea for your bookshop, Lev: A shopkeeper in Poland has come up with a novel way of deterring shoplifters: by caging them until police show up, or alternatively giving them the option of having their identity photograph displayed on a gallery of shame.