Archive for June, 2004

The other white meat


2004
06.27

Dick Cheney
On the same day as the U.S. Senate passed the Defense of Decency Act, Vice President Dick Cheney got into the spirit of things. As the venerable Washington Post reports:

On Tuesday, Cheney, serving in his role as president of the Senate, appeared in the chamber for a photo session. A chance meeting with Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.), the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, became an argument about Cheney’s ties to Halliburton Co., an international energy services corporation, and President Bush’s judicial nominees. The exchange ended when Cheney offered some crass advice.”Fuck yourself,” said the man who is a heartbeat from the presidency.

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Dial “M” for mujaheddin


2004
06.25

In the best tradition of New Journalism, Ghaith Abdul-Ahad embeds himself to the anti-American fighters in Kerbala, Falluja and Sadr City. Get your keffiyehs, Kalashnikovs and RPGs ready for some “muj style” action.

Suddenly, there are some explosions, and three of them run towards the corner. We hear heavy machine-gun fire and I see American APCs firing at a building in the street.

“Where’s the machine gun?”

“I don’t know! You had it yesterday!”

“No, you had it!”

“No, no, it’s there with Ali.”

“Where’s Ali?”

“He went home.”

“So where is the machine gun?”

“With Ali.”

So they decide to fire RPGs without machine-gun cover. They hop into the street, fire off a grenade, and hop back. All the while we are squeezed behind the corner. All I can think is that I have to stay alive otherwise my girlfriend will kill me.

Now boarding to Kerbala, Falluja and Sadr City at The Guardian.

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Paging for Jean Michelle Jarre, the universe is online


2004
06.24

Astronomers have recaptured the sounds of the early Universe showing it was born not with a bang but a quiet whisper that became a dull roar.

Listen to this: the sound of the Universe when 400,000 years old. Reminds me of “Oxygene,” 28 years old. — BBC: “Birth cry” of the cosmos heard

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Across their dream


2004
06.23

Trawler in stromy seas

Prachakhom Lunachai’s novel Khon Kham Fan (Across their dream) (Bangkok: Man of Letters, 2000) smashes quite a few of the stereotypes so lovingly cultivated by the Tourism Authority of Thailand. Prachakhom’s world is filled with characters that do not live in Amazing Thailand or the Land of the Smiles, but merely survive in the realm of the sea.

The first four chapters of the Thai original — and a comprehensive précis of the rest of the book — have been translated by Marcel Barang who has dedicated himself to bringing less-well-known Thai authors to Western readers. A full list of his translation works is available.

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Sex sells as we now know it


2004
06.22

Gerrie Lim: “Invisible Trade”

Writer Gerrie Lim investigated the blue-chip sex trade in Singapore and gained access to the secret world of high-priced sex workers. The result is a series of lucid portraits offering insights into this remarkable area of modern commerce.

His subjects are women who are lavishly rewarded with money and gifts, some diverging from the oft-trod path to perform kinky services that include whipping and spanking, others being flown to exotic resorts in the company of men with money to burn. He also enters the shadowy domain of gay male escorts and karaoke hostesses, whose views challenge societal norms and question assumptions made about their career choices.

But don’t take it from me: as Paul “The Great Railway Bazaar” Theroux wrote: “At last, after thirty years of my avoiding the city-state, this book restores my faith in the Singapore character and gives me reasons to return.”

The Invisible Trade is now available at all good bookstores in Singapore for S$18.95. For punters in other regions, the publisher, Monsoon Books, also provides an online shop for the convenience of readers worldwide.

(Full disclosure: Yeah, Gerrie’s my friend.)

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