[ed – some new entries below]
w is in australia for the opec (at the opening session w thanked the australian pm for inviting him to the “opec” meeting, then when the press laughed he said “well – john has invited me to next year’s opec meeting” [australia is not a member of opec and does not attend the meetings] and noted the contribution of the “austrian” [austria – australia, whatever] troops to the iraq war effort) apec meeting – and that’s close enough for me.
the kiwis seem to view w as that crazy uncle that is always saying nutty things and telling corny homespun tales – but sometimes he’s carrying an old gun and you don’t quite know what he’ll do next.
this story in the dominion post today is too much. (yes – i’ve ended my news blackout – reading the local paper and watching the news is part of my acclimation plan). w is addressing new zealand’s reluctance to embrace nuclear power as the answer to the climate crisis (nz is entirely nuclear free – leading to nz leaving the old anzus pact when nz would not allow us ships with nuclear weapons to call on nz ports).
“If you truly care about greenhouse gases, then you will support nuclear power. If you believe that greenhouse gases are a priority, like a lot of us. If you take the issue seriously, like I do and John [Howard] does, then you should be supportive of nuclear power.” george w bush
what can you say.
the nz pm flew to the summit on a commercial flight with 10 advisors. w flew with 3 identical air force one planes (his, a backup, and a backup for the backup), several C-17 globemaster III cargo planes, 2 marine one helicopters, several black hawks, 3 identical cadillac limos, a fleet of support vehicles, 700 advisors and a full diplomatic & security detail. but i guess he has now gone green and can lecture nz on it’s lack of concern for the environment.