On 20 January we watched the changing of the guard in Washington – on CNN. First I thought I’d miss it, being stuck in the BTV studios for a TV recording but we came home, wanted to have a short look, did not plan to watch it al. We ended up going to bed near 2am as the events were so lively to watch (for once CNN did OK). Many of our friends (not all American) here did the same – got hooked and looked till very late. The enthusiasm of the crowds was unique.
We are all looking forward to the future though it will be tough. Enthusiasm in DC explodes into excess consumerism – part of the economic stimulus plan? They even sell toilet paper (toxic ink, so don’t use it!), sex toys (anybody can explain?), hot sauce, all à la Obama. Most probably financed by China savings. Here we sure could use some of that creativity.
Let’s also wait and see how quickly Obama peddles back (as all U.S. presidents) on his rhetoric blaming China (currency speculation, etc.). China liked “Xiao Bu” (“Small Bush”) as he was a “trustworthy friend of China”. Chinese leaders feel a bit nervous with Obama as they don’t know him so well.
Time for closure anyway. SCMP came out the same day with this article – much in line with all media in Asia – including Mainland China.
20 January 2009 – “Bush leaves America divided and in a rut”
South China Morning Post
George W. Bush became the 43rd president of the United States in the shadow of a divisive election. He lost the popular vote but won after a controversial Supreme Court ruling on a disputed result in the state of Florida. He entered the White House promising to heal division by being a “uniter, not a divider”. He leaves it today as one of the most divisive and least popular presidents in US history.
Mr. Bush presided over a decline in America’s reputation and moral leadership. He led the nation into a disastrous war in Iraq, polarised it socially with a hardline stance on moral issues, and weakened it financially with tax cuts for the rich and extravagant spending. He leaves it in a deep recession arising from a financial crisis that resulted from lax supervision of investment banks. How did this happen to a man who campaigned for the nation’s highest office eight years ago as a “compassionate conservative”?
The answer lies in the terrorist attacks of September 2001. They would have tested any occupant of the White House. Thrown off balance, Mr. Bush came to rely heavily on an inner group of advisers, led by powerful vice-president Dick Cheney. They pushed him to the right with partisan politics, contempt for democratic checks and balances and disregard for the concerns of America’s allies.
By the time he campaigned for re-election in 2004, he had ditched the conventional political wisdom that he must appeal to the moderate middle ground, instead exploiting fears about national security and deep rifts on gay rights, abortion and stem-cell research.
The decision to invade Afghanistan in pursuit of al-Qaeda won international support and was popular at home. Not so the invasion of Iraq – without United Nations backing and on trumped-up evidence that it had acquired weapons of mass destruction – and the excesses of the ill-conceived “war on terror”. They left a litany of stains – among them the mistreatment of terror suspects and electronic spying on Americans without warrants – on values that have made America a beacon of human rights and the rule of law.
Mr. Bush showed little appetite for the details behind the big picture. People who meet him say he lacks curiosity. That was a trait that frustrated former British prime minister Tony Blair in the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq, as he tried in vain to establish that Washington had a coherent plan for occupation and reconstruction.
There are also positives to take into account, such as his defence of free trade, efforts to raise school standards, resistance to political pressure to retaliate against China for holding the value of its currency down and a US$15 billion anti-Aids programme in Africa. As Mr. Bush points out, history will not judge him until long after he is gone. Sadly, his main legacy is an America whose reputation his successor needs to restore and whose people he must strive to unite.
Vodka & Red Bull Christmas Cake
Ingredients:
1 cup water; 1 cup of brown sugar; 1 tsp baking soda; 1 cup of sugar; 1 tsp salt; Lemon Juice; 4 large eggs; Nuts; 2 cups dried fruit
and
1 bottle of Vodka; 1 can of Red Bull
Method:
1. Sample the vodka to check the quality.
2. Take a large bowl, check the vodka again.
3. To be sure it is of the highest quality, pour one level cup and mix with a little red bull and drink.
4. Repeat.
5. Turn on the electric mixer, beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl.
6. Add one teaspoon of sugar. Beat again.
7. At this point its is best to make sure the vodka is still ok.
8. Flavour with red bull to taste.
9. Try another cup – just in case turn off the mixerer.
10. Break two leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit.
11. Pick fruit off floor
12. Mix on the turner.
13. If the dried fruit gets stuck in the beaterers, pry it loose with a drewscriver.
14. Shample the vodka to check for tonsisticitity, flavour with a little Bed Rull.
15. Next ssiffft two cups of salt. Or something … Who giveshz a shi**
16. Throw a pinch of Bed Rull over your shoulder
17. Pick up the can, mop the floor
18. Check the vodka
19. Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts.
20. Add one table.
21. Add a shpoon of shugar, or somefink. Whatever you can find.
22. Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over.
23. Don’t forget to beat off the turner.
24. Finally, throw the bowl through the window, finish the vodka and kick the dog.
25. Fall into bed.
CHERRY MISTMAS
The White House prepares for the new President
Soon, the great day. A new president for the USA. As the “Man of the Year” and a focus of hope, our American friends are in a frenzy to prepare Washington and the White House.
The French also came up with a suggestion to change the name of the “White House”.
How Prince Charles stopped jogging
Prince Charles decided to take up jogging.
Every day, he’d jog past a hooker standing on the same street corner.
He learned to brace himself as he approached her for what was almost certain to follow.
‘One hundred and fifty pounds!’ she’d shout from the curb.
‘No! Five pounds!’ He would fire back, just to shut her up.
This ritual between him and the hooker became a daily occurrence.
He’d run by and she’d yell, ‘One hundred and Fifty Pounds!’
He’d yell back, ‘Five pounds!’
One day, Camilla decided that she wanted to accompany her ‘husband’ on his jog.
As the jogging couple neared the working woman’s street corner, Prince Charles realized she’d bark her £150 offer and Camilla would wonder what he’d really been doing on all his past outings. He figured he’d better have a good explanation for his wife.
As they jogged into the turn that would take them past the corner, he became even more apprehensive than usual. Sure enough, there was the hooker. He tried to avoid the prostitute’s eyes as she watched the pair jog past.
Then, from her corner, the hooker yelled, ‘See what you get for five pounds, you tight bastard?!’
Women don’t understand men
A woman is driving on the road…
A man is driving in the opposite direction, on that same road…
When they pass each other, the man rolls down his window and shouts – Horse!
Immediately the woman shouts back – Wanker!
The woman laughs because she is happy to have reacted so quickly to the shouting man, and takes the turn in the road with high speed.
The moral: “Women never understand what men say”