Tuesday, March 01, 2005
BLAME DAN RATHER
I’ll be in Melbourne today interviewing Ferrari people in advance of this Sunday’s Australian Formula One Grand Prix. Damon Hill and Jenson Button offer views on the event. By the way, CBS has secured rights to broadcast four F1 races in the US during 2005; they’ll be shown a week late, and Speed Channel isn’t permitted to broadcast those races live.
POLICY OF INACTION
Former Sydney detective Tim Priest on the recent Macquarie Field uprising:
Two aspects of the weekend’s riots alarm me: the growing phenomenon of suburban riots in Sydney and the inability of police commanders to restore order and prosecute all of those involved. That hardly makes Sydney’s future all that attractive.
One can only imagine the fallout of multiple suburban riots held in Sydney at the same time. No amount of political tough talk and police spin doctoring would be able to quell what could be a public disaster. Just think of what has happened in London and Los Angeles in recent years.
Of course, the mayhem on the southwestern Sydney streets highlights the Peter Ryan-inspired madness of the new urban police tactic: negotiate, back down and withdraw. Don’t arrest on the night lest you attract bad media attention. Don’t intimidate the offenders because they might complain to Legal Aid, which will then haunt your every move for the next two years. The result? Two of the most dangerous riots in the city’s history in just over a year.
Drove around Macquarie Fields yesterday. Not exactly a hotbed of seething urban resentment; more like a place where opportunistic cop-haters might take advantage of circumstances to throw a few bricks without fear of appropriate response.
CONGO SWINGER SUBMITS
The UN’s sex problems might decrease if it stopped appointing people named “Ruud” and “Swing”:
The U.N. representative in the Congo, American William Lacy Swing, may soon resign his post following allegations of widespread sexual abuse by peacekeepers, diplomats said on Monday.
Swing, due in New York on Thursday to confer with Secretary-General Kofi Annan, is expected to submit his resignation then or when he returns to the Congo, the envoys said.
American sources said Swing, a respected retired U.S. diplomat, had wanted to resign twice over the past two years but was persuaded by U.S. and U.N. officials to stay.
Swing will likely be replaced by Herrman Milf, or Sir Ian Porno Sexclub.